Thursday -Louisiana National Guard Day- in Shreveport

On Wednesday, Mayor Cedric B. Glover announced his signing of a proclamation designating Thursday, January 7, as "Louisiana National Guard Day" in Shreveport. The proclamation falls on the same day as the deployment ceremony for local units as part of the larger mobilization of the Louisiana National Guards 256th Infantry Brigade. Over 400 soldiers based at local units will participate in the active duty rotation in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. "I am very proud of our local citizen-soldiers for their accomplishments and their continued service and dedication not only to Shreveport and the surrounding area, but to our nation as well," Mayor Glover said. "These are folks who have volunteered to step up in times of local and state emergencies, just as they did for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Gustav and Ike. They were also out there piling sandbags during the recent local flooding, and now it is our time to support them as they leave their families and go into harms way to defend our nation, our liberty, and our very way of life. The Mayor continued: "The National Guard has a unique mission in that while they are generally reserve soldiers, their ongoing mission is to be prepared to respond to state and local emergencies under the Governor and serve active duty overseas under the President when needed. It is a certainly a challenging mission, but one that they seem to fulfill to the utmost anytime they are called upon. The very least we can do is stand by them at the deployment ceremony, thank them and praise them, and make sure their families are supported during their deployment."