<font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Fourteen members of the Galva National Guard unit are heading south to help Hurricane Katrina victims</strong></font> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> </head> <body> <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By Lisa Hammer for the Galva News</font></p> <p><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">Fourteen members of the Galva National Guard unit are heading south to help Hurricane Katrina victims. </font></p> <p><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">It’s not clear yet where the Guardsmen will be going, or what they’ll be doing. They’ll find that out after reporting to a unit in Sullivan, Ill. It’s possible they’ll be in the deep South from one to six months. </font></p> <p><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">Sgt. Mike Bumphrey at the Galva armory got the call last week to find Guardsmen to head South. After the hurricane, seven Guardsmen called Sgt. Bumphrey on their own to ask for a chance to volunteer. </font></p> <p><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">It was easy to find more. Of the first 25 Bumphrey called, 20 said they were very interested. After conferring with their families, a list of 14 emerged. One called back to decline after talking with his family. </font></p> <p><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">Making the trip will be: Ryan Peterson, LaFayette; Nolan Anderson, address not available; Michael Maddalozzo, Champaign; Nathan Piper, Amboy; Timothy Bowman, Forreston; Patrick DeGeorge, Amboy; Kenneth Giza, Oregon; Todd Kavran, Sterling; Paul Lilley, Polo; William McDaniels, Peoria; David Sanford, Bloomington; Jeramie Spear, Kewanee, and Derek VanUnnik, Galesburg. </font></p> <p><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">Although volunteering, the Guardsmen will be under Guard direction, and will be doing official Guard business. Since the mission is voluntary, employers aren’t required to let go of their needed employees. </font></p> <p><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">Before they go, they will have to go through a soldier readiness process, but after a year in Iraq, that should be a breeze, according to Sgt. Bumphrey. </font></p> <p><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">"I cannot imagine our guys not making it through," he said. </font></p> <p><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">For hurricane work, the Galva Guard unit will be assigned to Alpha Company, 634th Forward Support Battalion out of Sullivan, Ill., which is the new batallion headquarters for the Galva unit, which is realigning soon. </font></p> </body> </html>