MESA, AZ -- It was a tearful ceremony in Mesa Sunday, as friends and family of 58 Soldiers of the 653rd Regional Support Group prepared to say goodbye.
The soldiers will leave next week and undergo training at Fort Lewis in Washington before they head overseas to continue to fight in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
SEE PHOTOS FROM THE CEREMONY IN THE ATTACHED SLIDESHOWMichael Phillips' wife is one of those soldiers getting ready to help serve our country, but he said he is not ready to see her go.
"The transition you know? From having her here to help raise our kids and then to go away and have to do it by myself, that's going to be tough," he said.
Barely able to speak, Phillips' daughter, Bri Anna, said she feels the same way.
"I'm going to miss here not being here all the time, to talk to and stuff. Also, she's not going to be here to help me go through my first year of junior high," she said.
The soldiers were reorganized into a new unit in August 2007 and are set to provide logistical services and support to the troops, supplies and equipment already overseas.
