News from April 27, 2006 issue


Watson set for third deployment
Lt. Col. John Watson is preparing for a fourth trip to the Middle East, this one on the heels of a March promotion and a return to Ft. Sill, Okla.

Watson, in his 17th year of a military career, most recently was chief of the Organization Division in the Unit of Action Maneuver Battlefield at Ft. Knox. He and his wife Christina and son Jonathan relocated to Ft. Sill, Okla., two weeks ago where he is an operations officer for the 3rd U.S. Corp Artillery.

The 1985 Crittenden County High School and 1989 Murray State University graduate spent four years at Ft. Sill before moving to Ft. Knox. His duties and responsibilities will include training and resource management for four field artillery brigades assigned to the 3rd U.S. Corp Artillery. He will be responsible for carrying out orders for day-to-day operations and coordinating combat training.

He expects to be deployed in late summer for a third tour in Iraq. His previous overseas deployments included nearly a year in a tank on the front lines in Desert Storm, four months as a fire support officer for the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force in Afghanistan and most recently as an operations officer in Iraqi Freedom. His last Iraqi deployment came just months after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. At the time, he rotated between an operations center and being on the ground with other soldiers in his battalion.

There is a possibility that the upcoming deployment to Iraq will be cut short, because Watson has been selected as battalion commander of a field artillery unit at Ft. Sill effective in the summer of 2007.

Though it will be difficult to be away from his wife and 11-year-old son, Watson supports the U.S. involvement in Iraq and has witnessed the positive changes soldiers are making in the lives of Iraqis.

"You don't see it in the mainstream media but we are opening schools, hospitals and clinics, and the average Iraqi's life is so much better now than it was three years ago," Watson said. "I'm just honored to be part of it. It's great to know you're making a difference in so many people's lives and at the same time helping to keep America safe."

Though he will be able to retire from the military in a little over two years, Watson said he will continue "as long as I'm still having fun."

His father and several uncles, including the late Gerald Henry who was killed in Korea, served in the U.S. military; however, he is the family's first career military officer. His parents are Robert "Buddy" and Mary Jane Watson of Marion.


BACKROADS TOUR

Click Here to Download Map of Amish country
or get more on Backroads Tour or Marion, Ky.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Friday
Woman's Club Quilt Show 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., East Carlisle St. Clubhouse

Friday & Saturday
Vendor booths around the Court Square
Self-guided tours of Amish community, follow buggy signs from Mattoon
Native American Pow Wow, fairgrounds, featuring hoop dancer, beading, weaving, flutes, primitive living tips and more. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for elders and $2 for children. For more information contact, 965-9432.
Antique Car Show 9 a.m.-4 p.m., behind courthouse

Saturday
Backroads Quilt Show, Fohs Hall 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Women's Expo, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Armory
Marion United Methodist Church Fun Festival, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., corner of Bellville and College
Bluegrass Concert - Cope Brothers and Old Santa Fe, 7 p.m., Fohs Hall. Prize drawings* of Amish wall hanging, gift certificates to Bowtanicals, Quilting Tomorrow's Heirlooms and Wheeler's Antiques
4x4 Ramble, begin at 8:30 a.m., in front of Crittenden County Middle School. Includes a backroads tour, lunch in Marion, off-road run at Paddy's Bluff ATV Retreat.

Sunday
Pow Wow, fairgrounds

*Register at Tourism & Commerce Center, the Courthouse Gazebo or participating Marion businesses.


Police seek Crittenden suspect
The Caldwell County Sheriff's Department has one Crittenden County man in custody and is searching for another in connection with a robbery at the Fredonia Valley Bank night depository two weeks ago.
Bradley Whyte, 32, is suspected of driving a get-away vehicle after his alleged partner Ricky Bradham, 27, held up a women at knife point.
Whyte is in police custody after being apprehended a few days after the April 9 robbery.
Bradham is still at large and should be considered armed and dangerous, says Sheriff Stan Hudson.
The victim, Terry Reed, is an employee at Fredonia Food and More. Reed was making an after hours deposit for the store at Fredonia Valley Bank when Bradham allegedly approached her, according to information provided by Sheriff Hudson and Darci Metcalf, Fredonia Food and More manager.
He allegedly held a knife to her throat and demanded money.
Reed had already deposited the store's money, but the robber took money from her purse from a recently cashed federal tax return check.
Police think Bradham then took off on foot and got into a nearby mini-van driven by Whyte.
Whyte is charge with first-degree robbery.
Hudson is encouraged by the progress of the case. He says community involvement has been a major factor in the capture of Whyte and several other suspects in unrelated crimes.
Anyone with information regarding the case should call the sheriff's office at 365-2088.