Sun Photos by Bill Jones: In the top photo, New York
Times photographer Jim Wilson, (shown wearing brown
suede coat with back to camera at left holding his
camera aloft) takes a photo of Towering Oaks Baptist
Church members surrounding Sgt. 1st Class Allen Castle
(not visible) during a Sunday morning worship service
at the church. The lower photo shows Castle, wearing
yellow shirt, with his wife, Elaine, left, and
daughter, Hope, right, as Castle and 1st Sgt. Eddie
Pridemore (not pictured) were being honored earlier in
the service. Castle and Pridemore, both members of the
Tennessee Army National Guard’s 278th Armored Cavalry
Regiment, are expected to leave the U.S. for duty in
Iraq later this month. The New York Times apparently
will feature Castle and his family in a future article
about National Guardsmen going to Iraq.

By: By BILL JONES/Staff Writer
Greene County Online
November 8, 2004

A Greeneville National Guardsman, who is being sent to Iraq later this month, and his family may be featured in an upcoming New York Times article about the National Guard’s involvement in the Iraq conflict.

A New York Times reporter and photographer have been spending time in recent days with the family of a Sgt. 1st Class Allen Castle, of Greeneville, a National Guardsman who is assigned to Newport-based Troop E of the Tennessee Army National Guard’s 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment.

New York Times reporter Jonathan Glater, along with Times senior photographer Jim Wilson, attended Sunday school and morning worship services with Sgt. 1st Class Castle and his family at Towering Oaks Baptist Church.

The New York Times staffers declined during a brief interview to discuss with a Greeneville Sun reporter exactly how the Times came to focus on Sgt. 1st Class Castle and his family.

"It’s a long story," Glater said, noting that he and photographer Wilson were just some of the New York Times news staffers who were assigned to that newspaper’s coverage of the war in Iraq. He said he could not speak on the record about his upcoming article or say when it might appear.

But Sgt. Castle, a platoon sergeant, said Glater had been covering Troop E since July while the unit has been in training at Camp Shelby, Miss., and Fort Irwin, California.

Castle said, "They (The New York Times) chose us (Troop E) out of all the units being deployed to do a story on how deployment affects the National Guard and how the National Guard differs from the rest of the military."

Castle added that he understands that the Times article also will focus on how deployment to active duty affects the families of National Guard soldiers who are deployed for service in Iraq.

Castle said Times reporter Glater had been with Troop E almost constantly since July.

"He (Glater) went through the same training we did, wearing a helmet and Kevlar (body armor)," Castle said of the Times reporter. "He's been with us through everything."

Castle said Glater had asked to visit with his family and other Troop E soldiers and their families while the soldiers were on leave prior to departure for service in Iraq.

Photographer Wilson had more recently joined Glater as part of the New York Times team covering Troop E, Castle said.

"They went to work with me on Friday and to church with us on Sunday," Castle said.

He noted that Glater and Wilson had spent time in Newport with other Troop E soldiers and their families last week.

Soldiers Honored

Castle and 1st Sgt. Eddie Pridemore, of the Morristown-based 190th Engineer Company, another 278th ACR unit, were honored during the Sunday morning worship service.

Pridemore is a Greene County resident who formerly was a member of Greeneville-based Troop G of the 278th ACR, Castle said.

Both Castle and Pridemore are members of Towering Oaks Baptist Church. Both citizen-soldiers also are expected to be deployed to Kuwait by the end of the month, Castle said.

After four to six weeks in Kuwait, the 278th is expected to move north into Iraq, according to Castle.

"It's a four-day drive up to wherever we’re going in Iraq," he said.

During the service, Dr. James K. "Tommy" Pierce III, the church’s senior pastor, asked Castle and Pridemore to come to the foot of the altar and then asked church members to come forward, surround the pair and offer prayers for the two citizen-soldiers.

Dozens of church members responded, forming cocoons around the two men as church member Walter Ashe, M.D., offered a prayer for the pair.

"Guide their steps so they will know which way to turn," Dr. Ashe prayed.

The church choir sang "Somebody’s Praying for Me" before and after the special prayer service for the two soldiers.

At the beginning of his sermon, Senior Pastor Pierce told Castle and Pridemore that the congregation would continue to pray for them and would ensure that their families were cared for during their service in Iraq.

"We love you, and we appreciate what you are doing for us,"” Pastor Pierce said. "We know you are doing it out of love for your country and love for those of us here."

The congregation applauded loudly.

During the church’s Sunday School, Sgt. 1st Class Castle had received a T-shirt from the church’s middle-school class.

The shirt bore the slogan "Destined to Win" and a reference to the Scripture passage 1 John 5:4. The back of the shirt was signed by all the members of the Sunday School class.

1st. Sgt. Pridemore, a Newport native who said he has lived in Greene County for 13 years, said during an interview that he would have to return to Camp Shelby today.

He said the Morristown-based 190th Engineer Company is now attached to a National Guard engineer battalion from Texas. The Texas unit, along with other out-of-state units, is attached to the 278th ACR for deployment to Iraq.

Castle, a 24-year veteran of the National Guard, was accompanied on Sunday morning by his wife, Valorie, an employee of the Greene County Health Department.

Castle’s Family

With the Castles on Sunday morning were Sgt. 1st Class Castle’s father, Johnnie, and stepmother, Jean, from Dade City, Fla.

Castle and his wife, Elaine, have a daughter, Hope, 14, and sons, Dustin, 16, and Christopher, 12.

They moved to Greeneville from Dade City, Fla., about six years ago after Castle was transferred to the Wal-Mart Distribution Center on Pottertown Road in Midway.

1st Sgt. Castle said he has spent 21 years in the National Guard, but had not been on active military duty before the 278th was called up in June.

Asked if he had been surprised that his unit was called to active duty, Castle said he was surprised initially that the 278th ACR was being sent to Iraq.

"It was a surprise," he said. "We had thought that we would go to Fort Hood or Fort Campbell to replace a regular Army unit."

Asked to describe the last four months at Camp Shelby and Fort Irwin, Sgt. 1st Class Castle said, "It's been rough with long days. This is our first time off since we left here (Greeneville on Father's Day). We’ve been training or doing something every day."

Castle said he had been a tank platoon sergeant before Troop E was called to active duty, but was now assigned to a platoon equipped with jeep-like military vehicles called HUMVEEs.

"The tanks aren't needed for the things they've got going on (in Iraq)." he said. "There are four HUMVEEs in my platoon, with four people on each one."

Asked if the four months of training the soldiers of the 278th had received at Camp Shelby and Fort Irwin had prepared them for duty in Iraq, Castle said he felt it had.

"The (training) observer-controllers down there (at Camp Shelby) said we were the best ones they had seen come through the training," he said.

Regarding conditions the National Guardsmen had endured during training at Camp Shelby and Fort Irwin, Castle said the unit had experienced wide temperature extremes during training.

"In California, it was 105 degrees when we got there and 30 degrees when we left," he said. "We also got 7 inches of rain one day in the desert."

Asked if having trained at the U.S. Army’s National Training Center at Fort Irwin two years ago had helped the soldiers of the 278th be better prepared for their current active-duty assignment, Castle said it had not, at least in his case, because the earlier training had focused on tank warfare, which the unit’s new assignment won’t involve.

Elaine Castle said she cares for others' children in her home and that she expects to remain in Greeneville during her husband’s deployment to Iraq.

Sgt. 1st Class Castle said he and all other 278th ACR soldiers have been on leave with their families since Oct. 29, but must report back to Camp Shelby, Miss., on Tuesday, Nov. 9.

"They’re having a concert for us on Wednesday, Nov. 10, and the departure ceremony will be on Thursday, Nov. 11," he said.

Castle said the soldiers had not yet been given an exact date for their departure from Camp Shelby for Kuwait.

Story Copyright to Greeneville Sun