Three days ago, Kristen Weaver was celebrating a Christmas Eve engagement to Spc. Christopher Roe. Two days from now that celebration will come to a premature end when Roe heads to New Jersey with his National Guard unit.

Roe was among the 124 members of the 107th Field Artillery's Firing Battery A, Hermitage, probably soaking up the sights, sounds and sentiment of the holiday season this past week a bit more than in most years. For there's a pretty good chance next year at this time they'll be celebrating the holidays overseas.

The unit, which was actually deployed on Dec. 18, has been told to expect as long as an 18-month activation, with 12 of those months to be spent in Iraq.

About 80 percent of the soldiers are from Mercer and Lawrence counties. Others come from the Pittsburgh area and Ohio. They are scheduled to depart Monday, although a public send-off has been set for 2 p.m. Sunday in Hickory High School's gymnasium.

The soldiers will deploy to Ft. Dix, N.J., for training and then become part of the second rotation of Operation Iraqi Freedom where they will perform security operations.

During a send-off party less than 72 hours prior to that departure, war and the prospects of having to deal with death on an almost daily basis seemed as distant as that desert nation about 8,000 miles away.

It appeared the focus of many on hand at the Locust Grove on state Route 58 in Jefferson Township Friday was to enjoy -- as best they could -- the last precious minutes, hours and days with friends and family.

Among them were Spc. Rob Cook, 24, of Fredonia, and his wife of three weeks Amy.

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