Todd Clark

Clark, Todd, Army's 454th Transportation Company, As West Jefferson Reservist Sergeant Todd Clark, prepares to head to Iraq at Camp Atterbury, in Indiana.

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Spc. Charles L. Neeley, 19, 454th Transportation Company, Army Reserve, Mattoon, Illinois, Died when his tractor-trailer rolled over as he attempted to.

As West Jefferson Reservist Sergeant Todd Clark, prepares to head to Iraq at Camp Atterbury, in Indiana, the news of Saddam Hussein's capture didn't change much.Clark is a truck driver and dispatcher with the Army's 454th Transportation Company.

"I think the Baath Party and his soldiers will continue to fight against us, but it is a huge step to the USA in helping the Iraqi people get control of the country again," Clark wrote in an e-mail from the camp Wednesday.

Todd is a truck driver and dispatcher with the Army's 454th Transportation Company, based out of Columbus.The West Jefferson resident, who just celebrated his 26th birthday, also completes paperwork, ordering truck parts for the jet-fueling unit.

Before his deployment, Todd took a few minutes to explain his decision to join the Reserves.

"I am part of a very proud Army family," Todd said, listing a dad who served in Vietnam, a grandfather who served in Korea, another grandfather who served in World War II and a great-uncle who fought in World War I.

Todd made his own decision to enlist after graduating from West Jefferson High School in 1996.

He spent the days prior to his departure packing up the unit's equipment, repairing and preparing trucks, and receiving any needed new equipment.They headed to Camp Atterbury, Ind., by convoy today, for additional training and preparation before deploying to Iraq.

"I am really new to this," he explained before leaving."Other than the two weeks (of duty) every summer and a near deployment in February, I have never done anything like this."

The hardest part is leaving his family behind before the holidays, including his 3-year-old son Nathan.

"That is the roughest thing," Todd said."I was pretty sure this was coming and I was very ready for it."

However, he thought the day of his deployment would come after the holidays and the first of the year.

"Then bam, there it was, we were leaving in early December so there was twice as much to do -- Christmas shopping and getting ready," he said.

In addition to a going away party, early Christmas celebrations were held with the in-laws in Findlay, his parents in West Jefferson and with the immediate family Sunday.
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"It was hard and confusing for my son," Todd added.
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"I have no problem with Todd and the troops being over there, as long as they are getting something accomplished," the proud father added.

Meanwhile, his mom contemplates having a son she is so close to gone for a year.