Local families work to bring troops home for holidays

Local families work to bring troops home for holidays

By WHITNEY HOLMES
6 News Anchor/Reporter

MARYVILLE (WATE) -- As the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment prepares for its deployment to Iraq, families are working hard to raise money to bring the troops home for the holidays.

"It comes in spurts. I stay busy not to think about it but I have a lot of faith. This is something (her son) Matt has wanted to do since he was little," Joan Bennett says.

She knew the day would come when Matt, who enlisted at just 17, would go off to war.

That day is December 6. Matt, now 20, will head to Camp Shelby, Mississippi and then to Iraq. He's a specialist in the Army National Guard.

At first, Joan thought she'd have to spend the holidays without him but then the Army gave her an early Christmas present.

"I didn't want to have to put up a Christmas tree while he was gone but I just found out that we can celebrate Christmas together before he leaves," Joan says.

The Army's giving Matt four days of leave for Christmas but there's one hurdle. He has to find his own way home.

"It's expensive to pay for everyone to come home and it is a busy time of the year, but they do give us the opportunity to come back," Matt says.

His mother, as president of the local Family Readiness Group in Maryville, is trying to raise $9,000 for buses to bring all of the 130 soldiers from Maryville and Pigeon Forge home.

"Our goal was not to have 130 families on the road round trip two trips so we are trying to get buses to get them home," Joan explains.

Matt says he was mentally prepared to be without his family for the holidays, but he's thrilled he gets a chance to see them before he goes away for a year to fight for our country.

The Maryville-area Family Readiness Group has opened a bank account at First Tennessee for donations.

To make a donation, drop off the contribution at the bank or mail it to:

Maryville 278th Unit Bus Fund
C/O First Tennessee Bank
P.O. Box 9720
Maryville, TN 37802

There are dozens of units deploying from East Tennessee and each unit has to find its own way home. Several local Family Readiness Groups are holding their own fundraisers for buses.

For instance in Knoxville, there will be a Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser on Saturday, December 5 from 8 to 10 a.m. at Aubrey's at 9208 Middlebrook Pike.