Missouri National Guard

CLARKSVILLE, Mo. (AP) - People in the eastern Missouri hamlet of Clarksville are getting a boost from the Missouri National Guard and even from prison inmates as they battle the surging Mississippi River.   The river is expected to crest nearly 11 feet above flood stage on Sunday at Clarksville, an unprotected town of 442 residents about 60 miles north of St. Louis. Residents and volunteers have built a makeshift levee made of gravel, plastic overlay and sandbags. On Saturday, attention turned to making sure the sandbag levee is sturdy enough to hold back the water.

CLARKSVILLE, Mo. -- People in the eastern Missouri hamlet of Clarksville are getting a boost from the Missouri National Guard and even from prison inmates as they battle the surging Mississippi River. The river is expected to crest nearly 11 feet above flood stage on Sunday at Clarksville, an unprotected town of 442 residents about 60 miles north of St. Louis. Residents and volunteers have built a makeshift levee made of gravel, plastic overlay and sandbags. On Saturday, attention turned to making sure the sandbag levee is sturdy enough to hold back the water.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon requested from President Barack Obama an emergency declaration for all of Missouri.  The request could provide reimbursements to cities, towns and counties, and the state, for some of the costs of responding to the record snowfall that affected almost the entire state.  The snow fell Monday night and Tuesday. Nixon’s request for an emergency declaration is for all 114 counties and the city of St. Louis.  Nixon declared a state of emergency on Tuesday.

GREENFIELD, Mo. -- A man from Lockwood is charged for a Missouri National Guard soldier's death after he was injured at a home in Lockwood last summer.  An ambulance took Chad Clayton to a hospital on July 15 with head and neck injuries after he passed out.  Someone called 911 and said Clayton, 30, walked into the home drunk and started provoking children.  Clayton died two days later. Anthony Cheek, 28, of Lockwood was charged with second-degree murder on Tuesday morning following a five-month investigation.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Family and friends gathered together to welcome home some of Missouri's heroes at the Remington Event Center on Thursday afternoon.  Members of the Missouri National Guard's 935th Aviation Support Battalion were deployed to Kuwait in August 2012 and returned home to the cheers of a large crowd that included state dignitaries. Loved ones of the 935th didn't let anything keep them from getting to their soldiers.  They simply hugged them for the first time in nearly a year.

MOUNT VERNON, Mo. -- They didn't think he'd live.  Doctors considered pulling the plug.  Then he was told his right eye would be blind and he'd never use his right hand again.  But Mark Lindquist, 51, has a spirit to thrive, thanks to being found in time. On Thursday morning, there was a reunion here that no one thought would happen.  Three months ago, no one thought Lindquist would be seen, let alone joke again. "I'd like to take all the nurses (home) with me," Lindquist joked to his guests at the Missouri Rehabilitation Center.

GREENFIELD, Mo. -- An account of the minutes before a Missouri National Guard soldier in Lockwood was taken to a hospital adds to the mystery about how Chad Clayton was injured.  Clayton died on Sunday in a hospital in Springfield, two days after being injured in some way and going to the hospital. The Dade County Sheriff's Department and Lockwood Police Department are investigating Clayton's death but won't talk to reporters about it "to protect the integrity of the investigation.

A special ceremony Sunday to honor our local heroes.  Around 150 members of the Missouri National Guard's 1107th Theater Aviation Sustainment Maintenance group were honored in Springfield with a Freedom Salute. While stationed in Kuwait, The 1107th moved and repaired more than 400 military helicopters and logged more than 35,000 hours of maintenance.

Missouri National Guard officials say a soldier from Seymour, Missouri, has died in Afghanistan. Sergeant First Class Robert Pharris was killed January 5 when he and some fellow soldiers were hit by a roadside bomb. The 48-year-old was an agriculture specialist and the first casualty for the Missouri National Guard's Agri-Business Development Team.  SFC Pharris helped teach Afghan farmers about growing crops other than poppies. SFC Pharris was born in Mansfield.  His father was a farmer and Marine who served in Korea and Vietnam.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Five Citizen-Soldiers from Detachment 3, Company I, 185 th Theater Aviation Company said goodbye to friends and family at a departure ceremony in Springfield.  The Missouri Army National Guard unit, which draws Soldiers from throughout southwest Missouri, had been in the final stages of pre-mobilization training in Springfield several weeks prior to departure. “The unit will be stationed in the Sinai Peninsula,” said detachment commander Chief Warrant Officer 4 James Harper.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Five Citizen-Soldiers from Detachment 3, Company I, 185 th Theater Aviation Company said goodbye to friends and family at a departure ceremony in Springfield.  The Missouri Army National Guard unit, which draws Soldiers from throughout southwest Missouri, had been in the final stages of pre-mobilization training in Springfield several weeks prior to departure. “The unit will be stationed in the Sinai Peninsula,” said detachment commander Chief Warrant Officer 4 James Harper.

GREENFIELD, Mo. -- A man from Lockwood is charged for a Missouri National Guard soldier's death after he was injured at a home in Lockwood last summer.  An ambulance took Chad Clayton to a hospital on July 15 with head and neck injuries after he passed out.  Someone called 911 and said Clayton, 30, walked into the home drunk and started provoking children.  Clayton died two days later. Anthony Cheek, 28, of Lockwood was charged with second-degree murder on Tuesday morning following a five-month investigation.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Some Missouri National Guard soldiers headed to the Middle East after a farewell ceremony on Friday.  The five soldiers will be stationed on the Sinai Peninsula to enforce the Egyptian -- Israeli peace treaty.  The soldiers have been in training for the last several weeks to get ready.

MOUNT VERNON, Mo. - It was a bittersweet meeting when Missouri National Guard Staff Sgt. Mike Byers, his cousin, Brian Hamlet, and Mark Lindquist reunited. Three months and three days prior, the trio came together amidst the destruction of the Joplin tornado. And while this day was one for thanks, praise and celebration, it was not without tears. “What do you say to someone who saved your life?” asked Lindquist, squeezing tight to Byers' hand in a room at the Missouri Rehabilitation Center in Mount Vernon.

MOUNT VERNON, Mo. -- They didn't think he'd live.  Doctors considered pulling the plug.  Then he was told his right eye would be blind and he'd never use his right hand again.  But Mark Lindquist, 51, has a spirit to thrive, thanks to being found in time. On Thursday morning, there was a reunion here that no one thought would happen.  Three months ago, no one thought Lindquist would be seen, let alone joke again. "I'd like to take all the nurses (home) with me," Lindquist joked to his guests at the Missouri Rehabilitation Center.

GREENFIELD, Mo. -- An account of the minutes before a Missouri National Guard soldier in Lockwood was taken to a hospital adds to the mystery about how Chad Clayton was injured.  Clayton died on Sunday in a hospital in Springfield, two days after being injured in some way and going to the hospital. The Dade County Sheriff's Department and Lockwood Police Department are investigating Clayton's death but won't talk to reporters about it "to protect the integrity of the investigation.

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Two National Guardsmen from the Ozarks are being hailed as heroes.  They saved a 93-year-old woman who was trapped in her car by raging flood water. Spc. Junior Bombard of Ozark and Sgt. Tim Bridges of Carthage were helping local authorities when the call came in Tuesday morning.  The woman had tried to drive across the highway, which was swamped by the rising Black River.  The men used a wench and cable line to pull the woman to safety. Bridges says they were just doing their jobs.  Both men are with the 1138th Military Police Company.

A special ceremony Sunday to honor our local heroes.  Around 150 members of the Missouri National Guard's 1107th Theater Aviation Sustainment Maintenance group were honored in Springfield with a Freedom Salute. While stationed in Kuwait, The 1107th moved and repaired more than 400 military helicopters and logged more than 35,000 hours of maintenance.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon requested from President Barack Obama an emergency declaration for all of Missouri.  The request could provide reimbursements to cities, towns and counties, and the state, for some of the costs of responding to the record snowfall that affected almost the entire state.  The snow fell Monday night and Tuesday. Nixon’s request for an emergency declaration is for all 114 counties and the city of St. Louis.  Nixon declared a state of emergency on Tuesday.

Missouri National Guard officials say a soldier from Seymour, Missouri, has died in Afghanistan. Sergeant First Class Robert Pharris was killed January 5 when he and some fellow soldiers were hit by a roadside bomb. The 48-year-old was an agriculture specialist and the first casualty for the Missouri National Guard's Agri-Business Development Team.  SFC Pharris helped teach Afghan farmers about growing crops other than poppies. SFC Pharris was born in Mansfield.  His father was a farmer and Marine who served in Korea and Vietnam.