Emotional send-off at Wintrust Arena as over 300 troops prepare for Operation Spartan Shield
More than 300 soldiers from the Illinois National Guard, along with their families, gathered to bid farewell as they prepared for deployment to the Middle East in support of Operation Spartan Shield. Major Gen. Rodney Boyd, addressing the troops, emphasized the gravity of the moment, declaring, “You’re ready. You’re ready. Showtime.”
Among those gearing up for their first deployment was Staff Sgt. Adam Raynor from St. John, Indiana, expressing a mix of anxiety and excitement. “This will be my first deployment, first one in the books. They got me, so I’m ready to go. They trained us up,” Raynor shared.
Staff Sgt. Monn Escalona, on his second deployment, acknowledged the added difficulty of leaving behind not just a spouse but an entire family. “For this time, it’s very different because with the first one, I was just leaving my wife. But the second one, I’m leaving a whole family,” said Escalona, a resident of Waukegan.