[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 78 (Monday, June 7, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6488-S6489]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING THE 278TH ARMORED CAVALRY REGIMENT

  Mr. ALEXANDER. I rise today to comment on some of those military men 
and women that President Reagan felt so strongly about. On Saturday, I 
went to Knoxville, TN, for the casing of the colors of the 278th 
Armored Cavalry Regiment. Four thousand troops, the largest unit in the 
Tennessee National Guard, are being sent to Mississippi for training, 
then to California and then, just before Christmas, to Iraq. This was a 
large number of men and women from across Tennessee, mostly east 
Tennessee. While their command headquarters are in Knoxville, their 
squadron headquarters are in Athens, Cookeville, and Kingsport. The 
whole community had organized a tremendous day of celebration and 
parade to honor these men and women.
  Randy Tyree, the former mayor of Knoxville, was the master of 
ceremonies. Joe Alexander was the parade chairman. The East Tennessee 
Veterans Memorial Association was the event sponsor. It was a bright, 
sunny day. It came during a week we had filled with honoring the men 
and women in our military. Earlier in the week was Memorial Day and 
before that the opening of the World War II memorial. The week ended 
with the celebration of the 60th anniversary of D-day, honoring those 
military heroes of the past.
  But Saturday was not about the past. The men and women we honored in 
Knoxville, TN, on Saturday live among us. We know them. We see them in 
those communities every day. They are members of the Knox County 
Sheriff's Office. They include McMinn County school superintendent John 
Fogerty. They are Casey Boring, Tony Loveday, Kevin Fuller, Roger 
Lawson, and Randy Cruz all from Blount County, my home county's 
sheriff's office. They are our fathers, brothers, sons, sisters, and 
daughters. They are not all 24 or 26 or 30 years old either. They are 
in their thirties and their forties. Some are in their fifties.
  Jim Leinart is an Anderson County deputy who fought in Vietnam and is 
a grandfather. He is a part of the 278th and is heading to Iraq, a 
month after he was supposed to have retired from the military. He is a 
tank mechanic, and he and nearly 4,000 other members of the 278th leave 
June 14 for Mississippi for training.

  This is what he had to say about it:

       Right after I got that alert, I figured out I wasn't going 
     to be able to retire. I kind of dread it in a way and kind of 
     look forward to it in a way. It'll be different; an adventure 
     in another country.

  The families there, and the men and women in the 278th, all knew the 
truth. They are not going to Iraq and Afghanistan for support 
activities. They will be the first National Guard unit from Tennessee 
in a long time to be on the front lines, to be combat troops. But there 
was not a word of complaint that day, and the men looked forward to 
that.
  This unit has a fantastic history. The 278th traces its roots to the 
American Revolution in what may have been the first early American war 
of preemption. A British colonel named Patrick Ferguson on the eastern 
side of the Great Smokey Mountains sent word across the mountains to 
Tennessee that the mountaineers should lay down their arms or the 
British would come across the mountains and arrest them and hang their 
leaders.
  This angered the mountaineers so they gathered, in October of 1789 
near Watauga, TN, near Sycamore Shoals. They marched across the 
mountains to

[[Page S6489]]

find this general who sent this warning, killed him, won that battle, 
destroyed the left wing of Cornwallis' army and, according to President 
Theodore Roosevelt, changed the course of the Revolutionary War. These 
militiamen were the early members of the 278th.
  At the ceremony on Saturday, MAJ Charles R. Southerland, who is 
Adjutant of the 278th ACR, gave a beautiful speech, setting out the 
history of the 278th and its significance.
  I ask unanimous consent to have the text of Major Southerland's 
address, as well as a story from the Knoxville News Sentinel of 
Saturday, June 5, about Anderson County Deputy Jim Leinart to be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

Address Given on 5 June 2004 by Major Charles R. Southerland, Adjutant 
           of the 278th ACR, for the Parade in Knoxville, TN

       Today the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment writes another 
     page in our rich history of military service for Tennessee. 
     In 1780, Colonel John Sevier called for 100 good men and 200 
     men answered the challenge. Tennessee has been known as the 
     Volunteer State ever since. The 278th ACR is the only 
     enhanced Armored Cavalry Regiment within the National Guard, 
     and one of only two Armored Cavalry Regiments in the United 
     States Army.
       The history of the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment began 
     before the American Revolution when local militia units 
     formed throughout communities in East Tennessee. These units 
     were organized to protect the early settlers in Tennessee 
     from the Creek and Cherokee Indians who often raided 
     settlements in East Tennessee. Once these militia units were 
     formed, the Indian raids subsided and life on the Tennessee 
     frontier settled down.
       During the American Revolution, these militia units joined 
     along the Nolichucky River in East Tennessee under the 
     command of Colonel John Sevier to form a mounted Militia 
     Company of east Tennesseans. They formed with other ``Over 
     the Mountain Men'' and defeated a superior British force 
     under the command of General Patrick Ferguson in the Battle 
     of Kings Mountain, North Carolina. The battle, fought on 
     October 7, 1789, destroyed the left wing of Cornwallis' army 
     and effectively ended the Loyalist in the Carolinas. The 
     victory halted the British advance into North Carolina, 
     forced Lord Cornwallis to retreat from Charlotte into South 
     Carolina, and gave General Nathaniel Greene the opportunity 
     to reorganize the American Army.
       In 1796, Tennessee became the sixteenth state to join the 
     union. Colonel John Sevier became the State's first governor. 
     He organized the State's Militia into three brigades with the 
     Third Brigade of the Militia in East Tennessee.
       During the War of 1812 with Great Britain, Militia units 
     from East Tennessee marched with General Andrew Jackson and 
     fought engagements at Pensacola, Florida and defeated a 
     superior English force on 8 January 1815 in New Orleans.
       In 1846, a call went out for 2,800 Volunteers from the 
     State of Tennessee to take part in the War with Mexico, 
     38,000 Tennesseans answered the call, sealing the Tennessee 
     Militia the ever-lasting nickname of ``Volunteer.'' From that 
     heritage, the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment's motto ``I 
     Volunteer Sir'' was derived.
       The Third Brigade of the Tennessee Militia was absorbed 
     into the National Guard of the United States on March 25, 
     1887 as the Third Tennessee Infantry Regiment with 
     Headquarters in Knoxville, TN.
       On 29 April 1977, the 278th Infantry Brigade was 
     reorganized and re-designated the 278th Armored Calvary 
     Regiment. Colonel Russell A. Newman was appointed as the 1st 
     Colonel of the Regiment.
       Today we will embark on yet another journey to answer our 
     nations call to protect the freedom and quality of life for 
     our families, communities and the citizens of our great 
     nation. The Casing of the Regimental Colors today symbolizes 
     the end of our current mission in the State of Tennessee. The 
     colors represent the soldiers, past and present, which 
     comprise the Regiment and are the physical symbols of its 
     spirit, tradition and lineage. The act of casing the colors 
     is symbolic of the Regiment's upcoming journey and expresses 
     our rich heritage and the heroism of our forefathers. The 
     Regimental Colors will be uncased again when the Regiment 
     arrives at our new location as we begin our next mission. 
     This tradition carries on our wiliness to preserve the rights 
     and privileges of our great nation and our resolve against 
     terrorism. Today is one step in our journey to a foreign land 
     with our Regimental Colors encased during this transition and 
     will be soon unfurled to fly freely in our new location with 
     the gesture of freedom and the future for that area. The 
     pride and love we have for our families and the state of 
     Tennessee will go with us as we take this journey and we will 
     return with a richer and more affluent value for these people 
     and places in our hearts. We look forward to the part of the 
     journey that will return us back here to Knoxville and the 
     uncasing of our Regimental Colors with the knowledge that we 
     made a difference.
       The Regimental Command Sergeant Major, who is in charge of 
     the Colors, will case the Colors on command from the 
     Regiment's 8th Commander, Colonel Dennis J. Adams.
                                  ____


                 [From the News Sentinel, June 5, 2004]

       Anderson Deputy's Plans for Retirement Put on Back Burner

                            (By Bob Fowler)

       Clinton.--An Anderson County deputy who fought in Vietnam 
     and is a grandfather is heading to Iraq--a month after he was 
     supposed to have retired from the military.
       Shift Supervisor Jim Leinart is one of five Anderson County 
     Sheriff's Department officers--three of them in leadership 
     positions--who will begin an 18-month deployment June 14.
       Their departures create a huge void in the already short-
     staffed sheriff's department that will likely delay responses 
     to non-emergency calls, Chief Deputy Lewis Ridenour said.
       ``Some calls may have to be prioritized,'' he said. ``It 
     may also take away from proactive law enforcement.''
       As for Leinart's upcoming duty in Iraq, ``I'm sure that's 
     the last thing he was expecting, to be re-commissioned to a 
     war 30 years after serving his country in Vietnam,'' Ridenour 
     said.
       Leinart is a 54-year-old resident of the tiny, remote 
     Briceville community, tucked into the mountains of Anderson 
     County near Lake City.
       He has four children and eight grandchildren and is a 
     member of Troop B of the National Guard's 278th National 
     Armored Cavalry Regiment.
       A tank mechanic, he and nearly 4,000 other members of the 
     278th will leave June 14 for Camp Shelby in Mississippi for 
     training. They'll be on the way to Iraq in the fall.
       For Leinart, his upcoming tour of duty is tinged with 
     irony: He was supposed to have retired May 16 from the 
     National Guard.
       But that retirement was put on hold in March when he was 
     placed on ``stop-loss,'' the military's term for stopping a 
     soldier from leaving the military during an operation.
       ``Right after I got that alert, I figured out I wasn't 
     going to be able to retire,'' said Leinart, a burly man with 
     a quick wit, ready laugh and a neatly trimmed moustache 
     fading to gray.
       ``I kind of dread it in a way and kind of look forward to 
     it in a way,'' Leinart said. ``It'll be different; an 
     adventure in another country.''
       He said he and his wife, Joyce, a dispatcher with the 
     county's 911 emergency communications center, are preparing 
     for his departure.
       ``I'm getting all the stuff done around the house that 
     needs to be done,'' he said.
       His wife, their children and grandchildren ``are accepting 
     it, but they don't like it,'' Leinart said of his marching 
     orders.
       Leinart joined the army when he was 17 and was shipped out 
     to Vietnam shortly after his 18th birthday. He said he was 
     stationed next to Saigon in 1967-68 and was involved in the 
     Tet Offensive, when the Vietcong staged simultaneous attacks 
     on major South Vietnam cities in January 1968.
       It was a time, he said, ``when there was a lot of 
     confusion'' and when he was ``shot at a few times.''
       After Vietnam, Leinart joined the Army Reserves in 1981 and 
     transferred to the National Guard's 278th in 1988.
       Ridenour said Leinart has been a shift supervisor in the 
     sheriff's department for more than a year. ``It was apparent 
     he was someone we wanted in a leadership role,'' Ridenour 
     said. ``He's just the type of person who has that ability.''
       Other shift supervisors who are headed to Iraq include Sgt. 
     Chucky Beach and Sgt. David Davis. Deputies, Steve Alcorn and 
     Daniel McFee are also on their way to Iraq.
       Ridenour said even with the assignment changes made to fill 
     in while the five men are in Iraq, the sheriff's department 
     ``will still be short three people on a full-time basis.''
       A school drug awareness program may be put on hold next 
     year so the officer assigned to that job can go on patrol, 
     Ridenour said.
       Two drug enforcement officers have been placed on patrol, 
     and a training officer will become a road deputy three days a 
     week, he said.
       ``It's going to be a very big problem for us, but these 
     guys are making a bigger sacrifice than we are,'' Ridenour 
     said of the five National Guardsmen.

  Mr. ALEXANDER. The men and women of the 278th are going across the 
ocean to fight for us so we can live safely at home. They are doing 
that the same way militiamen in Tennessee did more than 200 years ago, 
men who went across the mountains to fight for the settlers so they 
could live safely in the pioneer villages. What I said to them on 
Saturday in Knoxville I would like to say to them and to their families 
again today:
  We are proud of you. We support you. We will pray for your safety, 
and we are grateful that you are going across the ocean to fight so we 
can be safe at home.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Thomas). The Senator from Mississippi.




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