Video: Calhoun City Unit Leaves for Afghanistan

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CALHOUN CITY, Miss. (WCBI) – The 858th Horizontal Engineering Company received a rousing sendoff on the Calhoun City Square. The unit will ship out early Monday morning and eventually deploy to Afghanistan, to do some important work in the final stages of the U.S. involvement there.

“We make air ways roads and anything that needs to be flat. We make it that way,” says Captain Robert Sanders.

Sergent First Class Barry Cannon is a resident of Calhoun City and a member  and a member of the unit for 17 years.

“It feels great. This is my third deployment and every time it’s just been better and better.”

Sergent Austin Fay of Nettleton is on his second deployment, but like Cannon his first to Afghanistan.

“It’s still kind of new for us. I have been overseas but it wasn’t to Afghanistan. So there is still a lot of not knowing what’s going to happen and I guess it’s part of it,” says Fay.

Specialist Jordan Gaston of Eupora is on his first deployment. His mother wanted him to be interviewed because they’re both big fans of WCBI News.

“I really don’t know what to expect being that is my first deployment but I got trust and faith in our leadership and I think we’re going to go over there and accomplishment the mission and come home,” says Gaston.

As an engineer unit the 858th Horizontal Company goes by the slogan “First in, Last out”.  These soldiers will literally be among the last troops to leave Afghanistan.

The unit plans to convoy around the Calhoun City square early Monday, before heading to Camp Shelby to complete their preparations for deployment to Afghanistan.