Hundred of Mississippi National Guard members were treated to a send-off parade in McComb Monday, as they prepare to return to Iraq. Soldiers and family say the fact they've been there before doesn't make leaving any easier.

Who says patriotism is dead? Not in McComb, where residents lined the streets to make sure the soldiers of the 155th Combined Arms Battalion knew they were behind them.

Yolanda Young of Magnolia, Miss., brought her daycare class out to see the troops off because a classmate's father is deploying.

"I hate to see him leave but we know he's going for a good reason," Young said.

Kendra Payne won't see her husband for a year.

"It's going to be the hardest time I've ever had in my life," she said.

The soldiers in the 155th transport food, fuel and parts from one base to another by way of convoy. This will be a return trip for some who deployed in 2005. For others, they're not sure what to expect.

"It's a little nervous at first, but like I said, we're well trained and totally ready," said Private Chandler Baughtman.

Capt. Shane Vice has done this before. Still, he says despite his best efforts to prepare the first timers for Iraq, it's nothing he can explain.

"I'm sure there are some war stories being passed around to the younger soldiers, and until they get on the ground an hit that first convoy, it's just nothing really to prepare them for it," Vice said.

And it's never easy to leave home.

"It's doesn't get any easier if you did deploy last time," said Vice. "It's just very important for the families to understand this is something we've got to do."

The 155th will go through mobilization training at Camp Shelby for two months, then serve a 10-month tour in Iraq.