City Plans a Texas-Size Send-Off for Guard Troops Headed to Iraq

Not far from the ranch where President Bush is spending the holidays, the impact of the war in Iraq is being driven home in this city of 113,000.

In the biggest single call-up of the Texas National Guard since World War II, 3,300 citizen-soldiers are preparing to ship out for a year of combat duty in Iraq, the largest contingent to date that the state has sent there.

On Thursday, members of the 56th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, and 18,000 of their relatives and friends began converging on Waco for a grand send-off.

The marquee event will be a flag-waving “deployment ceremony” on New Year’s Day, an hourlong gathering in a football stadium that will feature patriotic music, a presentation of the colors, speeches, and a formal declaration by commanders that the brigade is “combat ready.”

Although deployment ceremonies are customary, they usually are held at a unit’s home post, and without the fanfare that has enveloped this one. Waco has elevated to a new level the community spirit that has taken hold as the nation copes with a war that is assigning an especially large number of National Guard troops to dangerous and extended tours abroad.

What makes Saturday’s event unusual is its expected size, which is being fueled not only by thousands of relatives and friends, but by the presence of Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). Speculation is rife that Bush will also attend, although the White House has insisted all week that he has no appearances to announce.

The Waco event has another twist: Each soldier will receive an international phone card, the result of a fund-raising drive launched by civic leaders.

After the ceremony, the troops will travel by bus to Ft. Hood, about 50 miles to the southwest, and begin shipping out. Though the brigade is headquartered in Fort Worth, its members live throughout the state.

“This is touching just about everyone in Texas,” said Lt. Col. John Stanford, a National Guard spokesman in Austin.

The excitement began building the instant officials learned that the brigade had chosen Waco as its host city.

Civic leaders organized Operation Phone Card, a campaign that ended Thursday with the goal of raising $120,000 surpassed -- more than enough to give every soldier 145 minutes of phone time.

The drive, led by Baylor University associate athletic director Tom Hill, was funded mostly by small, individual donations. “There’s been lots of ones and fives,” said Tommye Lou Davis, chief of staff to Baylor President Robert B. Sloane Jr. “All of Central Texas is helping.”

Englander Container & Display Co. provided 100 donation boxes, which quickly appeared at car washes, malls, beauty salons, sporting events and movie theaters. The local news media provided coverage. Donations also have come over the Internet.

To Marty Englander, who runs the family business, it was “a no-brainer.”

“Ft. Hood is somewhat an extension of Waco. But it’s a step closer to home when you start seeing people you know in Waco start going over there,” he said.

The influx of New Year’s visitors could even give Waco an economic boost. According to Chamber of Commerce Vice President Steve Smith, the military families could pump $1 million into the local economy each day. The area’s 3,000 hotel and motel rooms are all booked. And restaurants all over the city -- normally closed for the holiday -- are laying out the welcome mat.

Just about the only unanswered question is whether the commander in chief, vacationing about 20 miles away at his ranch outside Crawford, will show up Saturday. The troops have invited Bush, but he has not committed to attend.

The brigade’s deployment reflects the military’s increasing reliance on reservists and the National Guard. Nationwide, about 140,000 out of 340,000 National Guard members have served in either Iraq or Afghanistan.

Texas has about 20,000 National Guard members; to date, 4,500 have served in either Afghanistan or Iraq and returned; 1,000 are in the region now, Stanford said.

The soldiers were told to expect to be in Iraq for about year.