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City Rally Kicks Off Initiative to Support Troops

Apr- 1-2005 » Filed Under: Homefront

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By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

ENID, Okla., April 1, 2005 – This north-central Oklahoma city has shown for more than 60 years that it supports the men and women of the U.S. military. And it wasn’t shy about loudly expressing that support at a rally March 31 in which Enid joined the Defense Department’s “America Supports You” program.

“Tonight is about one simple message: To all our men and women serving in our armed services … America Supports You,” Enid Mayor Ernie Currier said in welcoming the crowd of nearly 1,300. [...]

Enid is the first town in America to not only partner with America Supports You, but to build a support program for military men and women. “We have gathered today in this arena, originally built as a World War I memorial, to let the rest of the state, the nation and, most importantly, our troops know that we understand our freedom isn’t free and Enid supports our troops,” Currier said.

Currier said the initiative was also meant to build a real support system for the two military units the city has adopted: the Air Force’s 71st Security Forces Squadron from nearby Vance Air Force Base and the Army’s 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, from Fort Lewis, Wash. The latter is deployed to Mosul, Iraq. [...]


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