HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Representatives of the Mississippi Army National Guard recognized the hard work and dedication of the Temple Baptist Church Military Family Ministry at a ceremony held in Hattiesburg on Jan. 22.

“We’re here to present a Bronze Eagle award to Temple Baptist Church and the Mississippi Distinguished Civilian Service Award to Mrs. Dianne Herrington for all of their support to the Mississippi Army National Guard,” said Col. John Rhodes, commander of the 155th Brigade Combat Team.

Rhodes said that the partnership between the 155th BCT and the ministry group began around 2008, and has grown to encompass units from across Mississippi, thanks to the efforts of Herrington and the rest of the ministry team at Temple.

“We came to Temple initially to ask about having our Yellow Ribbon ceremony here, which they obviously agreed to, and it basically grew from there,” said Rhodes. “As time went by, more units from the 155th were integrated into the ministry, and then other units like the 184th Expeditionary Sustainment Command were getting involved, so this ministry truly reaches beyond the Hattiesburg area to the entire state of Mississippi.”

Temple Missions Pastor Philip Slusher said that getting involved in the Yellow Ribbon Program and participating in sendoff ceremonies generated a lot of interest in volunteer opportunities throughout the church.

“At one point we had to decide just how big we were going to let this ministry grow, because it basically took off on its own,” said Slusher, “but the prevailing thought was that we will support soldiers and their families as we can, wherever they are.”

Herrington was very surprised to be presented with the prestigious award, which was signed by former Governor Haley Barbour and previous Mississippi Adjutant General Maj. Gen. William L. Freeman.

“Our whole church has been involved over the years in helping to buy things for care packages, packing and shipping boxes, baking cookies to be shipped, and I would expect that we have served well over 1,000 Mississippi Army National Guard families in one way or another over the past three years,” said Herrington. “Of course, we appreciate the recognition for what we do, but we want to give all the honor and thanks to our soldiers and their families. We have a great group of volunteers here and we love our soldiers and their families.”

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