Volunteers, friends and family members of local National Guardsmen called to active duty in December are raising money to charter buses to bring the soldiers home for Christmas.

Guardsmen of Greeneville-based Troop L of the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment will go to Camp Shelby, Miss., in early December for pre-deployment training before going to Iraq in February.

The unit is scheduled to receive a six-day leave at Christmas.

Unfortunately, many of the citizen-soldiers may be unable to afford transportation home for Christmas.

Peggy Jones, the wife of retired National Guard Sgt. First Class Darwin Jones, said that friends and family members of the local soldiers are trying to raise about $17,600 to pay for bus transportation from Camp Shelby, Miss., to Greeneville and back.

Jones noted that her husband spent a year in Iraq in 2004-05, the last time the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment deployed to Iraq.

"My heart goes out to these families, especially the children, because I know how much of a burden it can be for them during a deployment," Jones wrote in a letter soliciting donations.

Troop L's Family Readiness Group, a support organization composed of wives and other relatives of guardsmen, had planned to charter buses to transport the soldiers from Camp Shelby to Greeneville for Christmas and return them to Camp Shelby after Christmas.

However, Jones said the Greene Coach bus company had quoted a price of about $17,000 to charter the three buses needed to transport 130 soldiers home for Christmas.

That, according to organizers, is a discounted rate.

"There are a lot of young guys in the unit who have been laid off from work and don't have money to afford bus transportation," Jones said.

Friends of the Troop L soldiers are trying to raise enough money to charter the needed buses.

On Wednesday evening, students from local high schools joined other volunteers in stuffing letters into envelopes addressed to churches and businesses in the community seeking donations to the fundraising campaign.

The Tennessee Army National Guard announced recently that the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, of which Troop L is a part, is being called to active duty in early December and is scheduled to deploy to Iraq in February.

Between December and February, the 278th's citizen-soldiers are scheduled to undergo pre-deployment training at Camp Shelby, Miss.

Those wishing to make donations to help bring the Troop L soldiers home for Christmas may do so by making a check payable to the Troop L Family Readiness Group and mailing it to:

Troop L Family Readiness Group

1030 Hal Henard Road,

Greeneville, TN 37743

Donations also may be dropped off at the National Guard Armory on Hal Henard Road between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Those who have questions my call Peggy Jones at 422-7472 or the National Guard Armory at 638-7812.