Getting home for Christmas has become much more difficult for members of the Mississippi National Guard 155th Infantry.

Five weapons that have disappeared from Camp Shelby might keep soldiers of the Natchez unit, who will leave for Iraq in January, from spending the holidays with their families.

Officials with the First Army are searching for the four M-29 Beretta 9 mm handguns and a Colt M-4 semiautomatic carbine that were discovered missing from an arms room Tuesday. Officials said that the weapons were on the post Monday.

On Tuesday a USO concert was held at Camp Shelby, with many non-military persons allowed to come and go.

Members of the 1st Battalion of the 155th Combat Team, which include the Natchez unit, have been put on lockdown at Camp Shelby as the officials investigate the missing weapons.

Soldiers had expected to be able to leave after the Pass and Review deployment ceremony Wednesday, but were detained after an unsuccessful search of barracks and vehicles for the weapons.

Maj. Doril Sanders, the public affairs officer for Camp Shelby, said that he was not certain if the soldiers would be granted any leave before their deployment to Iraq.

&uot;I can’t say right now when the lockdown will be lifted. This is a procedure in an ongoing investigation. I am sorry this had to happen at this time of year and I am sorry for the families,&uot; he said.

No family members would be allowed to visit the soldiers as long as the lockdown was in effect, according to Sanders.

Sanders said that the military accommodated family members that chose to stay the night after they were told the soldiers would not be allowed to leave.

&uot;They were given housing, mostly in apartments and hotels that are contracted with by the military,&uot; he said.

According to reports from the Associated Press, the First Army has set up &uot;amnesty tents&uot; around the barracks in hopes that soldiers would return the missing weapons in one of the boxes located inside the tents, if they were in possession of them.

Eloise Bihm said that the family had planned their Christmas in hopes that her stepson, Spc. Roger Rich, would spend Christmas at home with his wife, Rhonda, and their three children.

&uot;Words can’t describe how I feel. We have been preparing for a Christmas party. We have so many people coming. I don’t know what’s going on; I am on stand-by,&uot; she said.

Bihm said that her daughter attended the ceremony Wednesday and expected to leave with her husband, but chose to stay the night after learning the news.

&uot;The army put her up at Shelby. She wanted to come back with Roger. She is upset and I don’t blame her,&uot; she said.

Spc. Mason Gardner’s wife, Catina, has planned a family get-together with her husband at her home Wednesday night, but ended up spending the night in a hotel in Hattiesburg, without his company.

&uot;We had everything set up,&uot; she said. &uot;The food was all cooked and the family was there. It’s crazy that they would do this with him going to Iraq.&uot;

She said that the hotel where she stayed, The Inn on the Hill, had done much to accommodate the families of the troops during their stay.

&uot;They gave us food and personal hygiene items. They have really done a lot to take care of us,&uot; she said.

Glenda Grayson, wife of Spc. Londell Grayson, said that it didn’t do too much to ease her bad mood when the military told her that they would reimburse her for the expense she incurred Wednesday night at a hotel just outside Camp Shelby.

&uot;The least they could do is extend the date that they are supposed to go to Iraq. They had told us in briefing to say our last goodbyes at Christmas. If they can’t go home, how is that supposed to happen? I can’t express how angry I am.&uot;

Sharon Goodrich, coordinator of the Mississippi National Guard 155th Infantry’s Family Readiness Group, believes the military should have done more to prevent an incident like this from happening.

&uot;You would think that they would have taken more precautions with the weapons with all of the people that were coming and going from Camp Shelby

Tuesday,&uot; she said.

Goodrich said this happening not only at Christmas, but also at a time when families had to say goodbye to those they love made the lockdown even harder.

&uot;It is really a bad thing that this had to happen right now,&uot; she said.