1038th says parting words

Guardsmen prepare for year-long stint in Middle East

By Cammie Bellamy

Posted: June 7, 2014 at 3:48 a.m.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/STATON BREIDENTHAL --6/6/14-- Marlie Echols, 4, holds on to her father, Specialist Joseph Echols of Paragould, Friday at Camp Robinson following a deployment ceremony for the 1038th Horizontal Construction Company. The 160 soldiers are leaving next week for Ft. Bliss as part of a nine-month deployment to Kuwait.

By Staton Breidenthal
Credit: staton breidenthal
 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/STATON BREIDENTHAL --6/6/14-- Marlie Echols, 4, holds on to her father, Specialist Joseph Echols of Paragould, Friday at Camp Robinson following a deployment ceremony for the 1038th Horizontal Construction Company. The 160 soldiers are leaving next week for Ft. Bliss as part of a nine-month deployment to Kuwait.

In a hall echoing with the sounds of families sharing stories and babies crying, members of the Arkansas National Guard's 1038th Horizontal Construction Company got a warm send-off Friday in advance of their deployment to Kuwait.

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