FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Military happenings have a way of generating talk at the American Legion Post 233 just down the road from the home to 24,000 soldiers.

        So it was no surprise Monday that the White House announcement that President Bush would eat an early Thanksgiving lunch Wednesday with Fort Campbell soldiers was generating a buzz by many of the military retirees as they drank beer and sipped coffee in the smoke-filled clubhouse.

        Standing near a wanted poster of Osama bin Laden that read, “Wanted: Dead or Dead,” Herbert Mayfield, 61, said he's not quite sure he agrees with people who speculate that Mr. Bush's visit is a sign the 101st Airborne Division on post will be soon receive deployment orders.

        But Mr. Mayfield, who spent 20 years in the Army, said it will be good for the soldiers to meet Mr. Bush.

        “I've never seen a group yet that had morale so good it couldn't be improved,” Mr. Mayfield said, pausing to watch his buddies play pool.

        Nearby, at the bar, Michael Wood, 44, said that if Mr. Bush wants to improve troop morale, he should make it so soldiers are paid more and don't live in substandard housing. “They need a hell of a pay raise,” he said.

        Jane Merrill, manager of the American Legion, said she's already watched as friends of hers in the Special Forces stationed at Fort Campbell have quietly left for overseas.

        Now she's just waiting to get the word about the 101st Airborne Division. “It's gonna happen,” Mr. Merrill said with an unwavering confidence.

        A few miles down the road at USA Video, owner Kevin Ray said he's excited about Mr. Bush's visit and will be listening to see whether Mr. Bush announces the 101st will be deployed.

        More than 90 percent of Mr. Ray's business comes from the soldiers. During the Gulf War, Mr. Ray said he had to get a second job just to keep the business afloat while the 101st was away fighting.

        “We could wake up and Bush says go, and those people could be gone,” Mr. Ray said.

        The public affairs officers on post have refused to answer questions about possible deployment of the air assault division.

        The post has been on a high state of alert since Sept. 11, and the soldiers are trained to be deployed anywhere in the world in 36 hours.

        A deployment announcement would likely come from 48 to 72 hours before the soldiers left, said George Heath, a public affairs officer on the post.

        Mr. Bush's father, George Bush, landed at Fort Campbell in 1992 for a speech at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn. He also stopped at the post later that year on his way to a campaign rally in Paducah.

        President Clinton shook hands with soldiers in May 2000 before taking a helicopter from Fort Campbell to Owensboro for a speech on education.

        On Dec. 22, 1985, President Reagan and his wife, Nancy, attended a military service on post in honor of 287 soldiers stationed at Fort Campbell who were killed in the crash of a DC-8 at Gander, Newfoundland.

        President Johnson visited on July 23, 1966.

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