Ottawa ? Next month, just days before members of the hometown Kansas Army National Guard unit ship out for eventual duty in Iraq, Ottawa will take a day to pay tribute to its military service personnel.

“It’s always good to know the community is behind you,” said Sgt. 1st Class Steve Geiss, of the 1st Battalion, 127th Field Artillery, based in Ottawa. “It’s just great that they are doing that.”

A parade followed by a ceremony at the Franklin County Veterans Memorial will take place July 9. By July 17 about 150 soldiers of the 127th’s headquarters and headquarters battery will have left for training at Fort Lewis, Wash., before going on to Iraq. Some of the unit’s leaders will leave for Fort Lewis earlier in the month, Geiss said.

About 25 of the guardsmen are from the Ottawa area, Geiss said.

The state of Kansas also plans a send-off ceremony for the unit, which will be at 1 p.m. Friday in Washburn University’s Lee Arena in Topeka. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the state’s adjutant general, will participate. The ceremony is open to the public.

The battery normally provides a variety of support services for the other field artillery batteries in the battalion. In Iraq, the soldiers will provide security and force protection.

“Even though they won’t be engaged in their primary mission, our soldiers are well-trained and very versatile,” Bunting said in a recently released statement. “No matter what they are tasked to do, they do it well with complete dedication. We’re all proud of their service and wish them Godspeed.”

The Ottawa event is officially called the Support Your Troop Rally, said Sherry Wright. She and her husband, Larry Wright, are the primary organizers.

“We want to have a big send-off for them,” Sherry Wright said of the guardsmen.

The rally also is intended to salute military personnel already serving in Iraq and their families, the Wrights said.

The event will feature special guest speakers, including retired Army Col. Ted Bitner and Jeff Curry, a Franklin County Sheriff’s officer who recently returned from Iraq, where he served with the Marines.

The master of ceremonies will be the Rev. Dan Oglesby of Community Revival Center Church in Ottawa. Oglesby has been the emcee for similar events Ottawa has had in the past.

“I’m one of those freaks who actually stands at attention and sings the words to ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ at ball games,” Oglesby said. “I feel I’m very patriotic. I love my country and I love what military men and women do for me.”

Ottawa has held troop support events in the past in addition to holding one of the largest Veterans Day parades and celebrations in the area. One of the reasons such rallies have become important to Franklin Countians is that two of their own have been killed in action in Iraq: Army Sgt. Jacob Lee Butler, 24, Wellsville, and Marine Lance Cpl. Christopher Brandon Wasser, 21, Ottawa.

“I think that brought the war home to a lot of people here,” Oglesby said.

Anyone who wants to enter the parade, which will start at 11 a.m., should call Larry Wright at (785) 242-3355. Several vehicles from the National Guard unit will lead the parade but nearly 100 vehicles are expected, the Wrights said.

The event is not a political rally or pro-Bush rally, Oglesby said.

“There’s an old saying that there are no atheists in foxholes,” he said. “I don’t believe there are any politics in foxholes, either. We just want them to know that we’re praying for them and we hope they come home safe.