It was a special celebration in Warrenton on Saturday March 1, 2008, as hundreds of residents turned out to say good luck and farewell to the local 3175th Missouri National Guard Unit. A community parade on Main Street, and then an assembly at the Warrenton High School Auditorium was part of the departure ceremony. The citizen soldiers are being deployed to Kosovo in support of peace-keeping missions this spring. The roughly 200 soldiers will join nearly 1,000 others from the Missouri National Guard during the Kosovo mobilization.

This event had double impact to the Warren County Sheriff’s Department because not only is Corrections Officer Kelli Keene being deployed overseas to Kosovo for a year; she is also the mother to Brandon Keene, another Corrections Officer with the department. We will be praying for her safe return.