The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic prompted officials to scrub a public ceremony for the Kansas Army National Guard’s 891st Engineer Battalion, which is leaving Sunday for a yearlong deployment to Kuwait,
Still, local residents will be able to show their support with a different kind of sendoff.
Residents are invited to gather around the courthouse square at 7 a.m. Sunday to salute the Guardsmen as they depart for Forbes Field in Topeka, and their eventual trip overseas.
The caravan of buses will depart from the Iola armory at 7 a.m., take a circuit around the square, then leave town to the west along U.S. 54 to Yates Center, before heading north on U.S. 75 to Topeka.
Residents in Woodson County also have been notified about greeting the passing buses with signs and other shows of support.
The 891st deployment is in support of Spartan Shield, an ongoing operation in Kuwait.
The Guardsmen will be in charge of assorted construction projects.
