Saturday, January 26, 2008
Members of the 583rd were called part of the next ‘greatest generation.’
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN — Sp. E-4 James Anthony and his daughter, Pfc. Brenna Mei, were among the 50 members of the Ohio National Guard’s 583rd Military Police Detachment who left Friday for a one-year deployment, including a tour of duty in Iraq.
“I knew it would eventually come,” said Anthony of being deployed with his diminutive 19-year-old daughter, who enlisted in the Guard in February 2007. “I support her 100 percent,” he said.
Mei, whose mother is a member of the Navy Reserve, said she had always wanted to join the military, but with going to college full time, it worked better in the Reserve.
Mei, a 2006 graduate of Western Reserve High School, is studying chemistry and French at the University of Akron.
“I want to feel like I’m my own person, but since it is my first deployment, it will be good to have my father with me, who has been through it before,” she said.
Anthony, a truck driver for Ohio Structures, has two previous deployments, one to Croatia and the other to the Middle East.
Anthony and Mei were like a lot of other people in uniform, and out, at Crossroads Church on Friday: Ordinary people doing extraordinary service and sacrifice for their country.
In fact, the main speaker for the ceremony, Ohio National Guard Assistant Adjutant Brig. Gen. Matthew L. Kambic, said they are part of the next “greatest generation” of Americans, referring to Tom Brokaw’s book, “The Greatest Generation.”
In his book, Brokaw wrote about United States citizens who fought in World War II and the women who either served in the war or kept the home front intact.
“We are here to pay tribute to the courage and dedication and selflessness of the members of the 583rd who have answered, with character and commitment, the call to duty,” Kambic said.
To the families of the 583rd, he said: “Your courage and sacrifice allow these soldiers to do their jobs. We know the pain of missed birthdays and anniversaries. Thank you for what you do. Every e-mail, every letter and care package you send reminds them ... of what they leave behind and who they are defending.”
“Day by day, you just support your soldier,” said Kerry Reckard of McDonald, whose husband, Lt. Col. Jason Reckard, is the provost marshal for the detachment.
But, she said: “It’s just awful to see him leave ... all the things he will miss. We have a senior in high school who will graduate and a baby who will change.
The Reckards have five children: Abby, 16; Jared, 15; Jacob, 9; Emily, 7; and Jack, 8 months.
Also, Reckard is a State Farm Insurance agent in Canfield and has a business that still has to be run. Kerry Reckard said the staff will run the office day-to-day and she will go in periodically. Also, her husband’s father, Jim, is a former State Farm agent and will help.
Shelly Murray, whose husband, Sgt. 1st Class Shawn Murray, has been deployed five times, is coordinator for the 583rd’s Family Readiness Group. As such, she is the liaison between its commander, Capt. Eric Luca, and the families left behind, and will relay information about the unit’s activities to them and provide support at home.
The Murrays have five children: Aurora, 15; Jocelyn, 15; Shawn Jr., 9; Gregory, 6; and Katie, 4.
“We told the kids two months ago about the deployment, and they cried and were scared,” Shelly Murray said. “But, since then, we have been on a family vacation and we showed them a video of the place where their father will be working, and that put them more at ease.”
“I support this,” said Murray, a Youngstown firefighter. “But as a husband and father, I want to get there, get it done, and get home.”
It is the first deployment for Spc. E-4 Nicholas Cayton and his wife, Lynsey, who were married in November 2007. The couple, originally from the Carrollton area, now live in Girard. Cayton is a criminal justice student at Youngstown State University, and Lynsey Cayton is a 2006 graduate of YSU with an early-childhood education degree.
“I am mainly worried about Linsey. I hope she stays strong while I’m gone,” Cayton said.
“I am looking for things to keep busy. We are very strong and are blessed with supportive families. But, this is still very hard,” she said.
Capt. Luca, formerly of Boardman, now lives in Avon, Ohio, with his wife, Laura, and daughters, Maria, 13, and Madeline, 12. He is an employee of National City Bank. “It’s an honor to stand before you today. I accept the mission [given him by Kambic] to deploy, train and bring them home,” he said.
The 583rd, an all-Ohio unit, will provide local police for a major military base in Iraq.
“The Army is getting an influx of well-trained, well-equipped soldiers in the 583rd,” he said.
alcorn@vindy.com