Parting company

Preparing to depart
Originally uploaded by davidzentz

Lance Cpl. Jared Shipp, 22, of Peoria gets a tearful hug from his grandmother, Kay Rice, after a pre-deployment meet-and-greet for the commanding officers, the Marines of Engineer Company C and their loved ones at the Marine Corps Reserve Center on West Plank Road in Peoria Wednesday afternoon. The company will deploy Friday to Camp Lejeune in N.C. before heading off to Iraq. DAVID ZENTZ/JOURNAL STAR