Instead of wiling away the hours waiting for their husbands to return home from deployment to Iraq, a group of wives of Army National Guard soldiers based in Anson County have taken action to drum up community support for their husbands' unit so that when they return home early next year, they will truly have a celebration to remember.

The husbands of Kari Burriss of Wadesboro, Lindsay Knopp of Lilesville and Jenny Wood of Pageland, S.C.— Ryan Burriss, Joseph Knopp and Jason Wood— are all a part of Army National Guard unit, E Co. 1/252 Cab, based out of Wadesboro. This tour is the men's second, having previously deployed in conjunction with the Rockingham unit. They are combat engineers.

"What [combat engineers] did in World War II, which hasn't changed all that much, is that when the infrastructure of a city was destroyed, they would do what they could to rebuild it," Wood explained.

While the men are off doing work in Iraq, Burriss, Knopp and Wood are part of the family readiness group back home, which provides support for families left behind when troops are deployed to foreign lands. There are support meetings held monthly.

Also as part of this group, Knopp said, the three ladies are hoping to help build community support for their husbands and their unit. The first step— the women decorated the windows of the Belk building in Wadesboro, directly across from the Anson County Courthouse, with flags and yellow ribbons displaying the names of each member of the unit. Soon, the ladies also plan to start selling large yellow ribbons for businesses and individuals to display throughout the county.

The idea, Knopp said, is that when the troops return to their home county, they'll see the yellow ribbons— and the support— everywhere they look.

"We're also in the process of trying to get a welcome home celebration just for Anson County," Knopp said. "They will have a big ceremony in Raleigh or Fayetteville but we want people here in Anson County to be able to come and say thank you, too."

The family readiness group is also looking into having local citizens and children write thank-you letters to be delivered to the unit in Iraq.