MME honors employees deploying with guard to Kosovo

Mid-Missouri Energy employees Everett O'Donnell and Billy Knotts, holding his daughter Carlie, 3, are flanked by family, fellow employees and Malta Bend High School students during a ceremony honoring the Missouri Army National Guard members. The two men will leave next week for training before eventually being deployed to Kosovo as part of the U.N. peacekeeping troops.
(Marcia Gorrell/Democrat-News)

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After receiving training in Missouri and Indiana, Everett "Odie" O'Donnell and Billy Knotts, both process technicians at the ethanol plant will be sent first to Germany and then to Kosovo as part of United Nations peacekeeping operations. They will be joining 1,000 other guard members from 300 communities across Missouri.

At the ceremony on Friday, MME plant manager Chris Wilson signed a "Department of Defense Statement of Support" presented by Richard Grant, ombudsman coordinator of the Missouri committee for employer support of the Guard and Reserve.

"A lot of you don't realize that since 9/11 over 650,000 men and women like Odie and Billy have stood up and answered the nation's call," said Grant, adding that number only includes the guard and reserve members who have served, not the active duty military.

"They are today's minutemen from the revolutionary war, who lay down their civilian work and put on the uniform and serve their country," he said.

The "Statement of Support" Wilson signed demonstrates the employers support for their National Guard and Reserve employees, their commitment to military service and their resolve to bolster the defense of the United States. Under law, employers are required to give employees who are deployed, their job and benefits back when they return from active service.

Knotts has been in the National Guard for four years and is with the Richmond unit, although they train in Marshall. His wife, Lisa, and daughter, Carlie, were on hand for the ceremony. They also have two sons, ages 7 and 12.

O'Donnell was in the Army for several years before joining the National Guard last year to provide "moral support" to his 18-year-old son, Doug, who also joined the guard.

"I came home and the recruiter was there and they had both joined," said O'Donnell's wife, Becky, who along with Doug, was on hand for the ceremony Friday. In all, O'Donnell has 11 years of service in the military and is with the Chillicothe unit. They also have two other sons, ages 13 and 16.

Although their assignments aren't completely clear, both O'Donnell and Knotts, specialists E-4, are "gunners" and expect to be on patrol for the mission. Their deployment is expected to last a year.

"We'll be riding in the back of a HumVee," said Knotts. They said the weather in Kosovo is comparable to the weather in northern Iowa, and the country is no bigger than the state of Conneticut. This will be the first overseas deployment for both men.

The Missouri National Guard will be the lead unit in Kosovo for the next year, according to Grant.

"They are going to be in charge of all the peacekeeping operations in Kosovo, which will be not only U.S. forces, but all the other United Nations forces," he said.

Both soldiers said MME has been very supportive.

"They said they are supporting us here, and they told us if we needed anything to just let them know," said Knotts, adding they also have been very flexible with vacation time and allowing them time to catch up with their families before deploying.

Following the ceremony, MME employees had a luncheon for the soldiers and their families.

Contact Marcia Gorrell at marshallag@socket.net