Charlie Battery 2-130th Field Artillery Unit in Abilene was well-represented at the fair, according to PFC Bryan Callaway, the unit public affairs representative. Six soldiers volunteered for the fair duty, which consisted of raising the American flag each day at 7:30 p.m. during the Star Spangled Banner, showing off some of the equipment and vehicles used by C Battery soldiers, firing the cannon to start the Western Downtown Parade and during the flag-raising ceremony, Callaway said. They also helped the local recruiter SFC James Surber with fun activities including a rock climbing wall.
The soldiers who volunteered were SPC Patrick Hill of Hutchinson, SPC Justin Willingham of Salina, PFC Nicholas Garcia of Emporia, PFC Bryan Callaway of Valley Center, PV2 Mathew Slagle of Salina, and PV2 David Lewis of El Dorado.
“We love helping out in the community,” Hill said.
“The community is supportive of us,” Lewis said. “We had a lot of support during the parade.”
He was impressed by how parade watchers provided a loud ovation as they went by.
“This gave us the opportunity to say thanks and at the same time show the community what we can do.”
Over the past year C Battery 2-130 in Abilene has been away for training and deployed to Sinai Peninsula.