Summer 2010 - STATES - The National Guard

Activated Chemical Troops Get Visit
from Top State Leaders
Soldiers Called Up for Emergency Relief
Receive Thanks from State Governor, Senator
U.S. Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts pulls a filled
sandbag from an automated sandbagging machine
March 30, 2010, at the Lexington Department of
Transportation site while visiting troops from the
272nd Chemical Company, Massachusetts Army
National Guard, supporting Operation Rising Water.
Massachusetts Guard members from across the
commonwealth have been activated in an emergency
response to flooding occurring all over the state
(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jerome Bishop).
8 Minuteman Summer 2010
By Spc. Nicholas Michaud
65th Public Affairs Operations Center
LEXINGTON, Mass. – Soldiers of the 272nd
Chemical Company of the Massachusetts Army
National Guard, tasked with filling sandbags
in support of Operation Rising Water, were
surprised March 30, 2010, by visits from top
Massachusetts officials.
Gov. Deval Patrick and U.S. Sen. Scott Brown,
on site at the Lexington Department of
Transportation to receive briefings on the operation,
also checked on the Soldiers’ well-being
and offered words of support. Upon arrival,
Patrick was briefed by the commander of the
79th Troop Command, Lt. Col. Paul Landry.
Following the briefing, Patrick inspected the
sandbagging operations and provided a briefing
to the media.
“As usual, the National Guard has stepped right
up,” said Patrick to members of the media, “and
been total professionals from the beginning.”
Throughout his visit, Patrick walked among the
troops and offered his thanks to the Soldiers.
The members of the National Guard are doing a
fabulous job, said Patrick in an interview he
provided to members of the 65th Public Affairs
Headquarters.
“I want to make sure everyone is adequately
supplied and getting the food and rest they
need,” said Patrick during the interview.
Brown, recently elected to the U.S. Senate from
Massachusetts, stopped by to offer his support
to the troops. Brown, also a Lt. Col. in the
Massachusetts National Guard, lent a hand in
the production of the sandbags by personally
stepping in and making a few.
“When I was younger we used to make them by
hand and now they have the machine from
Range Control at Edwards,” said Brown.
As a morale booster, Brown provided coffee and
doughnuts to the tired troops. Before, during
and after his briefing with the media, Brown
took the time to personally thank every member
of the Massachusetts National Guard working at
the Lexington DOT site. ✯
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, second from right, and Secretary Mary Elizabeth Heffernan, Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, meet with Soldiers from
the 272nd Chemical Company, Massachusetts Army National Guard, at the Lexington Department of Transportation during a visit to the site March 30, 2010. Soldiers
from the 272nd were activated, along with other Massachusetts Guard members, in support of Operation Rising Water, the commonwealth’s response to the continuing
flood emergency (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jerome Bishop).