Updated: 11/8/2009 8:15:59 PM
As members of the Army National Guard's 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment prepare for a future deployment, they're taking a look back at their military legacy.
On Sunday they dedicated their new armory to a soldier who paved the way.
Colonel Russell A. Newman served as the 278th's first Regimental Commander when it was formed in 1977.
"My dad's been my hero my entire life. I'm just extremely proud," Newman's daughter Ann Rita Ditmore said.
She said her father would extend that pride to the community for their support of the 278th.
"Hopefully it's just another reminder of how grateful we all should be to the men and women who wear the uniform and make sacrifices for our freedom everyday," Ditmore said.
"It makes you feel better about what you're doing, you know the community is behind you," SPC Rose Myers said.
Many of the 278th's younger soldiers are preparing for their first tour of duty.
"I'm a little anxious. I've never deployed before, I'm not sure what it's going to be like. We have a lot of good training so I'm confident, but it'll be an adjustment," PFC Sean Miller said.
He said having veterans in attendance for Sunday's ceremony provided an added bonus.
"Being so inexperienced, getting to hear from the other people, you just soak it up as much as you can every chance that you get," Miller said.
Which Ditmore says is exactly what her father would have wanted.
"It was all about the soldier. That's what he would be extremely proud of, that these men and women out here with the uniform on are here to honor him and he'll be with them as they go overseas," she said.
The 278th will head to Camp Shelby, Mississippi on December 5th. They're expected to be deployed to Iraq in February.
