Airborne support

Gene Carr, left foreground, watches as about 30 friends and family members of Sgt. Mike Hoskins release 325 balloons Thursday afternoon from Cherry Street in front of the American Legion building. Debra Hoskins, who along with Georgette Collins, organized the event, said that they released the balloons at 4:30 p.m. Thursday to coincide with the time the troops plane left for Iraq. Hoskins said there was one balloon for each of the members of Company A, 735th Battalion, from Popular Bluff that is being sent to Iraq. Carr, commander American Legion Leon Ogier Post No. 2, said that the Legion is here to be a support group for the families of troops who are deployed overseas. "I'd like to get the message out to mothers and families of troops who are deployed that we are here to help them," he said. "I just pray that we are not getting into another Vietnam," Carr, who is a Vietnam era veteran, said.