PHOTO BY CLAY WHITTINGTON Fort Hood's Maj. Gen. Jeffrey W. Hammond, right, visits with Judy Lansford and J.W. Hutcherson at a recent Kiwanis Club meeting. Typically, when Maj. Gen. Jeffrey W. Hammond speaks, people listen. Whether in Baghdad or on base in the United States, Hammond commands attention.

He certainly had a captive audience when he spoke at a recent meeting of the Lampasas Kiwanis Club at the Hancock Springs Hostess House, where approximately 25 members showed up for the noon engagement.

"I jumped at the opportunity [to speak here]," Hammond said. "Lampasas is a big part of who we are, and I'm just delighted at the chance to come down here."

After the catered meal with Kiwanis members, his wife and four of his soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division based out of Fort Hood, Hammond took the microphone and relayed his message of "mission, soldier, family and team."

Hammond played a video created by soldiers about their 15- month deployment to Baghdad where, among other things, they highlighted the fighting and interactions with Iraqi civilians. The video also showed the soldiers' emotional return home.

It ended with a list of 94 names, each a fallen soldier.

"It was a situation where, when we first went in, the attacks were 38-50 some days," Hammond said. "We took it down to two, maybe three on some days.

"Magnificent men and women, volunteer soldiers putting their lives on the line for the people of Iraq to do one thing: protect them. Protect them so they can seek a better day, and I thought we succeeded in the mission we were given. I was very proud of them, and the world should be proud of them."

When the video concluded, Hammond asked one of his soldiers, decked in full combat gear with weapon in hand, to take the stage and explain his job.

As requested, the young man responded in typical military fashion.

Hammond referred to the soldier as "his best friend."

"The thing you need to know is that these soldiers are less than one percent of the population," Hammond said. "They are volunteers that put their lives on the line, and all they know is 'Yes, sir.' They don't cry, they don't gripe, they do their jobs, and they don't look for any glory.

"I don't think there is anywhere else in the world, [there is not] any other organization in the world that has the diversity we have and is as strong because of that diversity as we are."

A round of applause filled the room as Kiwanis Club members took to their feet following the presentation. Many in attendance thanked Hammond and his soldiers for a job well done.

Hammond, however, wanted to thank the parents of his men.

"Their moms and dads lend them to us, and it is my responsibility as a leader to take care of them and bring them home," he said. "I'm very grateful to American families who do lend a member of their family to become a soldier.

"I'll be forever grateful."