Four young soldiers from Mound Valley were honored during a “send off” dinner hosted by the Flagpole Festival Committee last Saturday.

One of the soldiers, E4 Zach Hight, was returning from a year of service in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army where he worked as an air controller.

Hight is the son of Kim Hedrick of Mound Valley and the late Craig Hight, and the step-son of Bo Hedrick. He is returning to his wife, Lisa, and their two sons, Gavin and Zane. Lisa is also a Mound Valley native.

Hight had originally planned to attend the Saturday event but there were delays and he was still en route to Fort Campbell, Ky. He was expected to arrive back in Labette County by midweek.

The three Mound Valley soldiers who will soon embark for Afghanistan are Jacob Rion, Joel Franklin and D.J. Bush, and all three were present, along with their families.

Pfc. Rion is part of the Army National Guard 226th Engineering Company in  Pittsburg which has a unit in Cherryvale. The entire company has been mobilized for duty in Afghanistan, leaving Dec. 5 for Salina for training, then back home for a four-day Christmas leave before heading to three different training points in the United States before their overseas deployment.

His orders call for a 400-day deployment.

Rion, the son of Kelly and Lonnie Rion of Mound Valley, attended three years at Labette County High School then graduated from Cherryvale High School. He has been in the National Guard for two years.
Spc. Bush and Spc. Franklin both are members of the 414th Military Police Army Reserve Company in Joplin and they will leave Jan. 6 for training at three different state-side military installations before deploying to Afghanistan.

Bush  is the son of Charles and Timber Black of Mound Valley and graduated from Labette County High School and is attending Pittsburg State University.

Franklin graduated from Labette County High School and currently is working as a welder. He has been in the National Guard since April 2007 and will be overseas for one year. He is the son of Robert and Lisa Franklin of Mound Valley.

Pastor Travis Modesitt of the Mound Valley First Baptist Church prayed a “hedge of protection” for the departing soldiers on behalf of the entire community, taking the expression from the book of the first chapter of Job.