Relatives bid tearful farewells to guardsmen

Submitted photo/ Delta Fire Protection District

Firefighters were called out at 5 a.m. Thursday to battle a blaze at Wheeler Steelworks. Since the site was still smoldering Thursday afternoon, investigators couldn't determine the cause. Residents as far away as Oran reported hearing explosions as 50-gallon drums of chemicals blew up in the heat and firefighters re

A 911 call alerted firefighters that one of the buildings

By Andrea L. Buchanan ~ Southeast Missourian

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Some were tearful, others were stoic as they waited for soldiers to load the bus at the Perryville armory Thursday night.

By 9 p.m., families, friends and other well-wishers had said goodbyes to National Guard soldiers who were leaving for a security detail at the 2002 Winter Olympics near Salt Lake City.

Several minutes before loading the bus, Guard members Corrie Hogan and Dena Sutter of Cape Girardeau double-checked the contents of their backpacks.

Hogan, a Perry County jailer, said the sheriff, Gary J. Schaaf, had come by earlier to wish her well.

Sutter's said her boyfriend is a guardsman, so she didn't have to suffer through a separation.

But others did.

Lisa Dulaney's eyes were red-rimmed as she looked at her husband, Staff Sgt. Ed Dulaney, before he gathered her and his four children for a final hug.

"This is the first time in 14 years he's been gone more than two weeks," she said. Now he and more than 100 other members of Company B, 1140th Engineers are on their way for a 37-day tour of duty.

Commanding officer Capt. Chris Mickan said the soldiers would have a seven-hour bus trip to Whiteman Air Force Base, where they would meet more guardsmen from Kansas City and Springfield, Mo.

They are expected to fly into Hill Air Force Base in Utah by noon today and report for duty in Park City, Utah.

"It's an honor to be activated in your own country, protecting your own people," said Mickan, in his 16th year with the guard.

When not on active duty, he works as a supervisor at BioKyowa.

Wilbert Stadler and his wife, Betty, were there to wish the soldiers good luck and a safe journey. A World War II veteran and a charter member of Company B, Stadler retired from the Guard in 1986.

Looking at the soldiers lined up for final instructions, his wife said, "That was a lot of years ironing uniforms."

The group has been training for about six weeks and will work with the Secret Service, searching bags and vehicles. They will also provide beefed-up security for the Olympic Committee and foreign dignitary's vehicles.

They will live in the Olympic Village and eat two hot meals a day -- breakfast and supper -- and military rations for lunch.

The Guard will be present at most of the outdoor Olympic events. Company B is slated for the ski jump as well as the bobsled and luge events.

"I'll keep watching just hoping to get a glimpse of him," Lisa Dulaney said.

"I tease her that this will be the first time she watched any event besides figure skating," Dulaney said.

Amber Burnham, a student at Southeast Missouri State University, gave her boyfriend, Craig Schindler, strict instructions to call every day.

Mickan warned her that might be difficult. With all the cell phones expected to be in the village, Schindler may not get a signal. Incoming calls might work better.

Diane Kohn is the contact liaison for Company B's family support group. Her husband, Paul, is in his 20th year as a guardsman.

In the past month, local businesses donated items for a silent auctions, and the support group sold T-shirts to raise money to send flowers or balloons to ill family members or new babies.

Kohn also will organize a welcome-back gathering when the soldiers return home.

Asked if she were frightened for her husband, Kohn said: "I worry, but I don't let it control me. He's also a fireman."

abuchanan@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160