Fort Campbell soldiers deploy to Europe, first time in 80 years

CLARKSVILLE, Tn. (WSMV) - Hundreds more soldiers from Fort Campbell are departing for a nine-month deployment in Europe Wednesday night.

The U.S. Army says they will help NATO allies deter Russian aggression in the region.

It marks the first time in 80 years, soldiers from Fort Campbell have been deployed to Europe.

“Serving for anybody is going to change your life,” Jarrod Stover, who is retired military said. “I wasn’t surprised that we were going to get into the, I won’t say fight, but get into the peace-keeping.”

Stover is the owner of Screaming Eagle Cigars, a military-based cigar lounge. He was deployed around the world, including two tours with the “No Slack Battalion,” fighting in one of the most hostile areas of Afghanistan.

“Battle of Barawala at Kalay, which was the largest engagement in the Afghan war. We come together like nobody else.”

Stover, whose cigar lounge serves as a place for active-duty and retired military to hangout, wants us to think about the thousands of Screaming Eagle soldiers departing for the historic mission to Europe.

“Keep your head on a swivel and pay attention to your leadership,” Stover said. “The reason why we can do what we do every day in this country is because soldiers like those down the street go and defend our freedom. That’s the bottom line.”

Considering Fort Campbell soldiers haven’t been deployed to Europe in 80 years, to put that in perspective - in 1942, gas was 20 cents.

The most-watched film that year was Bambi, and Bing Crosby released “White Christmas” in July 1942, which would be the Billboard top hit for three months that year.

The 4,700 soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division began deploying to Europe in late June.

The latest troop will depart Fort Campbell at 10:30 Wednesday night.

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