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    freedom
September 13, 2008

Ansted Girl Scouts pay tribute to military

By Amelia A. Pridemore

ANSTED — Many of the young Girl Scouts assembled at the Ansted Middle School football field Saturday were too young to remember Sept. 11, 2001.

Nevertheless, that did not stop the girls from escorting military members and emergency responders twice their height around the field seven times — one for each year that has passed since the United States was attacked.

Ansted area Girl Scouts in Daisy, Brownie and Junior troops participated in the National Freedom Walk Saturday afternoon. According to the U.S. Defense Department’s “America Supports You” Web site, the walk is a nationwide program that began after Defense employees wanted to honor Pentagon attack victims and their families. Employees then organized a walk from the Pentagon to the National Mall.

Saturday’s walk in Ansted honored Sept. 11 victims, members of the military and those working in all emergency services, according to Deanna Gill, leader of all three Girl Scout groups.

Gill said the event took place after her 9-year-old daughter Fairan wanted to do it. Three of their family members serve in the Air and Army National Guards. Gill’s 25-year-old cousin, Staff Sgt. Pete Campbell of the 2/19th Special Forces Army National Guard unit based in Kenova, will deploy to Afghanistan next Friday. Campbell is a Hico resident who attended the event.

Such events let children know police officers, firefighters, emergency medical service workers and soldiers are their friends, Gill said.

“I think our school system has really tried to point that out,” she said. “They are special. They are here to help us. I love it. You get the sense that we are growing a generation that will respect, honor and look up to these men and women.”

Another positive, Gill said, was that two soldiers who walked with the girls were women.

“In the Girl Scouts, we work to grow leadership, teaching the girls how it is important to be leaders in their communities,” she said. “A woman in a leadership position is an excellent role model for young girls.”

Gill became choked up while announcing Campbell’s name. She later said it was because Afghanistan has apparently become more dangerous.

“I will pray for all of them and ask for God’s hand to keep them safe,” she said. “We have no control over what happens, but we can offer our prayers and support.”

Ansted resident Mary McClung agreed as she held her 7-year-old daughter Laya Lawson closely to her side. McClung’s husband Bert, a staff sergeant in the National Guard, was deployed to Romania 18 days ago. Laya proudly carried a sign supporting her dad, but some elements of the walk reminded her of the person she missed so badly.

“It’s sad,” Lawson said.

McClung said the soldiers have a tough job, but so do family members left behind. For those in her situation, she recommended finding someone with a listening ear. Laya, she noted, has a caring group of fellow Girl Scouts, many of whom have been in her situation.

Campbell and his wife Jennifer, a sergeant in the Army National Guard’s 77th Brigade in Glen Jean, have a 2-year-old son, Eli, and Jennifer is two months pregnant with another child. Pete’s deployment is scheduled to last 12 months, and he may get to come home when the new baby arrives. Company commanders try to be accommodating, but that largely depends on the conditions soldiers are facing at the time.

The Campbells say they fully realize either or both could be deployed at any time, and they have made preparations for their children’s care. Despite being in harm’s way, the two are proud of what they do — for their children and everyone else’s.

“We are protecting our kids,” Jennifer Campbell said. “I can’t think of anything better to do than protect their freedom.”

“If people do not stand behind us, then stand in front of us,” Pete Campbell said.

— E-mail: apridemore@register-herald.com

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