For members of the 155th Separate Armored Brigage of the Mississippi Army National Guard and their families, the coming days must be filled with uncertainty.

Dozens of those troops are from the Natchez area. Called to active duty and scheduled for training at Camp Shelby near Hattiesburg next month, the soldiers are preparing for an overseas mission &045; but they don’t yet know where they will be sent.

It is a possibility, of course, that they will go to Iraq, which despite the recent handover of power to a sovereign government is still a very dangerous place to be. On Tuesday a car bomb exploded, killing 13 people on their way to a wake. Soldiers and Marines have been kidnapped.

Or they could be sent to Afghanistan, where the war on terror still wages more quietly than the battles in Iraq but is no less dangerous.

But the sense of honor with which soldiers of the 155th are approaching their duty is so admirable.

Whether they are soldiers who have already served in Vietnam or the Persian Gulf or young men and women about to experience their first deployment, these soldiers are facing their duty with great courage and humility.

Their families, too, have great challenges, but they will have to have the same courage to face the days ahead.

We will continue to pray for these soldiers and their families as they begin an unknown journey.