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Superwoman's tears water tonight's 9/11 tribute

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By TOM JACKSON

Published: September 11, 2009

DADE CITY - The engraved brass plate stuck to Missy Lea's file-folder organizer pretty much says it all - and in bold block letters for good measure: Superwoman.

This is not to suggest she is indestructible. Indeed, Lea declares herself occasionally frightened and frequently bewildered, and her key super power may be the ability to weep at the slightest provocation.

Like, for instance, when she describes the uncertainty that grips local households anticipating yet another deployment of the Florida Army National Guard unit based in Dade City.

As she says, "I can't imagine being the spouse of a soldier who's serving overseas," Lea's eyes are shining puddles. By the time she finishes - "Not knowing what's going on ... not knowing if they're coming back" - she's blotting tears from both cheeks.

That said, Lea's weeping is not accompanied by useless handwringing. Quite the contrary. If Lea is leaking tears, all that's left is to slip on her cape and superhero boots. Intense local action is about to commence.

At 39, the immediate past president of the Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce, office manager, wife, mom, Trilby native and unofficial community organizer understands it takes energy, persistence and keen networking skills to convert good ideas into tangible facts.

And the area folk who constitute the 102-member guard unit are of particular concern to Lea. "You don't think they can be your neighbors; they're out there, going to work, sending their kids to school, trying to make ends meet. And then the call comes, and they're gone.

"We can't ever do enough to make up for their sacrifices."

That doesn't mean this one-woman dynamo won't try. The first time the unit deployed, in the spring of 2005, Lea helped arrange a send-off that put flag- waving well-wishers along their route from the Dade City Armory all the way to Bushnell, 20 miles up the road. At 4:30 in the morning.

She has since organized a welcome-home dinner and a back-to-school backpack giveaway. Tonight, both to commemorate the dark episode that put America, once more, on a wartime footing and in anticipation of the local unit's deployment to Kuwait in January, Lea, in partnership with the chamber, will mark her most ambitious tribute yet.

Where were you?

Set for the Dan Cannon Auditorium on the Pasco County Fairgrounds, the event will begin with a private dinner for soldiers, their families and major contributors, with a concert featuring local performers at 8 p.m. Admission is free, but attendees will be encouraged to make a donation at the door to support the local Guard and families.

The duty ahead is potentially dicey. Guardsmen with the 2nd Battalion, 116th Field Artillery Regiment, based at the Dade City Armory, will be part of a force of roughly 3,500 providing convoy security as U.S. forces "redeploy" from Iraq in advance of a White House deadline to minimize the American presence by the end of 2011.

"If they didn't do this, could we?" Lea wonders. "I don't think most of us would be capable."

Doing our part for the troops

And so we do what we can, all the while remembering where we were when the madness began eight years ago this morning. Missy Lea, then an office worker at the Dade City Walmart, learned about the initial attack on the World Trade Center when her mother telephoned.

"We were still talking when the second plane hit the other tower," Lea says. "I didn't know what to think. People were running, screaming. It was crazy. Would there be others? How bad was it going to get?"

By the morning's end, Lea found herself redeployed to sporting goods, where alarm had taken a pragmatic turn, producing a run on the store's guns and ammunition. Virtually anyone else left in the store had gathered in the electronics department, where a wall of televisions carried live broadcasts.

"I was ... scared," Lea said. "Sometimes I still am." So she does the work that helps her feel invulnerable.

And tonight, if she has done it well, there won't be a dry eye in the house.

IF YOU GO

CONCERT: "A Tribute to Our Soldiers"

TIME: 8 p.m. tonight; doors open at 7:30.

WHERE: Dan Cannon Auditorium on the Pasco County Fairgrounds.

PERFORMERS: A blend of country and Southern gospel singers including Michael Ray, Ashley Shannon, Bobby Joe Moody, the Farmers Daughters and Tom Larramore and the Out Reach Band.

COST: Free, but attendees are encouraged to make a donation at the door.

Hear Tom Jackson's "The Jax Files Weekend" at 11 a.m. Saturdays on WGUL, 860 AM.

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