Soldiers bring 'Guard the Environment' campaign to Crystal City

Missouri National Guard Soldiers of G Company, headquartered at the Festus Armory, work to remove flood debris from the Crystal City School campus.

By Bill Phelan
Ngmo.pao@US.ARMY.MIL

CRYSTAL CITY, Mo. - A forecast of rain did not stop Soldiers of the Missouri National Guard's Recruit Sustainment Program from doing their part to improve the local environment.

More than 45 privates and noncommissioned officers of G Company, based at the Festus Armory, spent the morning of Oct. 23 removing truckloads of flood debris from the campus of Crystal City Public Schools.

"The football field is about a half mile from the Mississippi River and there was a breech in the levy," explained Crystal City School Superintendent Ron Swafford. "The field has flooded about eight times over the last three years so we really appreciate the Soldier's help."

Soldiers concentrated their efforts on an area encompassing the football field, parking lot and the surrounding woods, removing about five truckloads of debris.

"The area really looked awful," said Staff Sgt. Jonathan Edmonson, a recruit sustainment coordinator. "We collected tires, half-burnt wood, every kind of plastic you can imagine, glass bottles and even a set of bedsprings. The amount of junk was beyond description."

The cleanup project was part of the National Guard's nation-wide Guard the Environment Campaign. The grassroots effort is designed to demonstrate how the Guard cares about environmental protection and beautification in the communities its Soldiers serve in.

"The National Guard is part of the community," said Master Sgt. Timothy Davis. "So it's important for our new Soldiers to see how receptive the community is to what we do as Soldiers. In this particular case, a lot of people in the community saw what we were doing and they were very appreciative."

"We were all very proud to be helping out the community, especially in our uniforms," added Pvt. Miriah Newman, of Barnhart. "It's nice to let the community know that the military isn't just about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We help the community as well."


For more information about the Missouri National Guard, please call 1-800-GoGuard or visit www.moguard.com.

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For more information about this release, please contact UPAR Bill Phelan at 314-416-1868 or cell, 314-556-5428 or e-mail bill.phelan@us.army.mil .