Guards bid farewell

National Guard soldiers from Teaneck bid a sad farewell to loved ones before loading onto buses before dawn to catch a flight to Fort Bliss, Tx. They'll spend the next 2+ months in the New Mexico desert before shipping off to Iraq.

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NEW VIDEO: Guardsmen say final goodbyes

Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Last updated: Thursday June 26, 2008, EDT 10:29 AM

BY MIKE KELLY

Photos: Guardsmen deploy to Texas

With throaty cheers, the clicks of rifle bolts in a final safety check and the lone faint cry of a young daughter bidding goodbye to her father, the final New Jersey National Guard unit left the Teaneck armory for deployment to Iraq.

As dawn streaked the sky, the 130 soldiers of Foxtrot Company boarded three buses just before 5 a.m., then rolled down the New Jersey Turnpike to McGuire Air Force Base.

Five hours later, they joined three other National Guard companies from other parts of New Jersey and boarded a 747 jetliner for a flight to Fort Bliss, Texas where they will begin two months of desert training before leaving for duty in Iraq in September.

Later tonight, Foxtrot company is slated to link up with the 2,800 other soldiers of New Jersey’s 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team who flew to Texas earlier this week in 14 other jetliners. The brigade is not scheduled to return from Iraq until next June.

“The day is here,” Foxtrot’s commander, Captain James Egan of Glen Rock, told the troops as they stood at attention in formation inside the cavernous Teaneck Armory.

“I know it’s a tough time,” said Egan as several dozen family members listened from bleachers. “Everyone’s going to come home. We’ll be fine.”

Just before Egan spoke, Sam Alston of Paterson fought back tears as he gave a final hug to his wife, Sergeant Brenda Alston.

“The hardest part will be every night when I go to sleep and she is not there,” Sam Alston said.

Brenda Alston, 43, a mother of five and grandmother of three, is leaving the same day as her youngest daughter, Starniquasia, graduates from Eastside High School in Paterson.

“I just told her I love her and wished her good luck,” Alston said. “I wish I could be there. But I can’t control everything.”

Moments later, she walked from the armory and boarded one of three chartered buses. As the buses began to slowly pull out of the armory parking lot, relatives and friends rushed forward, pressing their hands to the windows of the buses in an attempt to offer one last goodbye.

At McGuire Air Force base, Foxtrot’s soldiers received yet another goodbye – from more than two dozen senior National Guard officers who lined the runway and greeted each soldier with a hug, a handshake and a few words of encouragement.

The last officer to great each soldier was Major General Glenn Rieth, the overall commander of New Jersey’s army and air force Guard units.

“Be safe,” Rieth said over and over, as the soldiers shuffled past in single file.

“It makes me proud that New Jersey’s National Guard is a major force protector,” Rieth said beforehand. “But I certainly feel the emotions here today, as a husband and a father. All of these soldiers are somebody’s father or mother or son or daughter.”

Photos: Guardsmen deploy to Texas

With throaty cheers, the clicks of rifle bolts in a final safety check and the lone faint cry of a young daughter bidding goodbye to her father, the final New Jersey National Guard unit left the Teaneck armory for deployment to Iraq.

As dawn streaked the sky, the 130 soldiers of Foxtrot Company boarded three buses just before 5 a.m., then rolled down the New Jersey Turnpike to McGuire Air Force Base.

Five hours later, they joined three other National Guard companies from other parts of New Jersey and boarded a 747 jetliner for a flight to Fort Bliss, Texas where they will begin two months of desert training before leaving for duty in Iraq in September.

Later tonight, Foxtrot company is slated to link up with the 2,800 other soldiers of New Jersey’s 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team who flew to Texas earlier this week in 14 other jetliners. The brigade is not scheduled to return from Iraq until next June.

“The day is here,” Foxtrot’s commander, Captain James Egan of Glen Rock, told the troops as they stood at attention in formation inside the cavernous Teaneck Armory.

“I know it’s a tough time,” said Egan as several dozen family members listened from bleachers. “Everyone’s going to come home. We’ll be fine.”

Just before Egan spoke, Sam Alston of Paterson fought back tears as he gave a final hug to his wife, Sergeant Brenda Alston.

“The hardest part will be every night when I go to sleep and she is not there,” Sam Alston said.

Brenda Alston, 43, a mother of five and grandmother of three, is leaving the same day as her youngest daughter, Starniquasia, graduates from Eastside High School in Paterson.

“I just told her I love her and wished her good luck,” Alston said. “I wish I could be there. But I can’t control everything.”

Moments later, she walked from the armory and boarded one of three chartered buses. As the buses began to slowly pull out of the armory parking lot, relatives and friends rushed forward, pressing their hands to the windows of the buses in an attempt to offer one last goodbye.

At McGuire Air Force base, Foxtrot’s soldiers received yet another goodbye – from more than two dozen senior National Guard officers who lined the runway and greeted each soldier with a hug, a handshake and a few words of encouragement.

The last officer to great each soldier was Major General Glenn Rieth, the overall commander of New Jersey’s army and air force Guard units.

“Be safe,” Rieth said over and over, as the soldiers shuffled past in single file.

“It makes me proud that New Jersey’s National Guard is a major force protector,” Rieth said beforehand. “But I certainly feel the emotions here today, as a husband and a father. All of these soldiers are somebody’s father or mother or son or daughter.”