South Carolina @ MindSay

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

July 10, 2008 - Patriotism runs high at Chick and Ruth's Delly, a mainstay along the Maryland capital's Main Street. Ted Levitt, the deli's owner, starts each morning leading patrons as they recite the Pledge of Allegiance. A huge flag hovers high over the lunch counter, and yellow-and-orange walls are covered with photos of troops in uniform. Now Levitt has a new addition: a fully restored 1931 Buick, airbrushed with the faces of 43 heroes who have served the country in the armed forces or as police officers, firefighters and other first responders.

Levitt hopes to use his labor of love, which he's named "Faces of Valor USA," to raise money for scholarships and financial assistance for or in honor of those wounded or killed while performing their duty.

The red, white and blue car took two and a half years to restore and made its debut appearance during Annapolis' Fourth of July Parade. Now Levitt is lining up events where he can showcase the car to raise funds to help those who have sacrificed for their country and the families some of them left behind.

Levitt said he got the idea to personalize his project after the parents of Marine Capt. Ben Sammis stopped into his deli to tell him that their son had been killed conducting helicopter rescues in Iraq. Sammis graduated from The Citadel in South Carolina, but met Levitt when he frequented Chick and Ruth's Delly while attending a U.S. Naval Academy program.

Devastated to hear of his death, Levitt asked Beth and Steve Sammis for permission to use their son's face on his car.

Levitt took the project farther, ultimately choosing 43 people to depict on his car and bring faces to the concepts of sacrifice and service. In addition to 15 firefighters killed in New York during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Faces of Valor project highlights troops who have served in operations from the Vietnam War to the war in Iraq.

Levitt knows all but the New York firefighters personally, from his cousin, Army Chief Warrant Officer Stewart Goldberg, who was killed when his helicopter was shot down in Vietnam in July 1969, to Master Sgt. Karl Allen, a local businessman who retired from the reserve components after three deployments.

The face of Army Capt. D.J. Skelton, a Chick and Ruth's Delly patron, appears with his left eye closed; he lost it during a rocket-propelled-grenade attack while serving with 25th Infantry Division in Fallujah, Iraq, in November 2004.

But Levitt said he intentionally chose to use not only faces of those wounded or killed in the line of duty.

"This is a tribute, not a memorial," he said of the Faces of Valor project. "A lot of people think you have to have been killed to be honored, but that's not the point here. What matters is that these people put their lives on the line every day to protect us. It's because of them that we get to live the lives we live."

Levitt said he wants people who see the car to focus on each face and recognize the sacrifices so many people make so Americans can live in safety and enjoy freedoms some only dream about.

"These are the men and women who allow us to live in freedom, to do any kind of job we want and allow our constitution to live on," he said. "It's because of them that we get to do what we do."

At age 51, Levitt said, he remembers the protests and abuse that awaited many Vietnam veterans when they returned from that war, and said he wants to ensure that never happens to today's returning troops.

"They need to be treated as heroes," he said. "And for those who need help, they need to know that they will be taken care of. We owe them that."

By Samantha L. Quigley

American Forces Press Service

May 9, 2008 - They didn't have any lines, and if it weren't for their bright colors against the spartan background of a C-17 Globemaster's cargo bay, quilts produced by the South Carolina Quilts of Valor troop-support organization might have gone unnoticed.  But their cameo appearance in a scene of Lifetime Network's military drama "Army Wives," however, reflects the importance the quilts have in the lives of real servicemembers.

Susan Thomas, president of the quilt-making group, said Air Force Reserve Capt. Wayne Capps, public affairs officer for the 315th Airlift Wing here, suggested to the show's staff that they use her organization's quilts in a scene while coordinating details of the May 5 filming here of parts of the upcoming season's fourth episode.

"It's just so inspiring, just to know that somebody cares enough to say, 'We want to show this,'" she said.

When their 15 minutes of fame ended, the quilts were boxed up and sent overseas with a note letting recipients know about their quilts' star status.

South Carolina Quilts of Valor is part of the national Quilts of Valor Foundation that started four years ago. The mission of the foundation, and all its chapters, is to cover every wounded servicemember with a quilt to let them know how much they're appreciated.

In the three and a half years since it began, the South Carolina chapter has completed 660 of the quilts, ranging from 50 by 60 inches to 62 by 72 inches in size, just right for use on the litters used to transport wounded warriors on aeromedical airlift flights.

The nearly 30 group members spend about three weeks and a little over $100 to create each heirloom-quality quilt, using only quilt store fabric and a particular kind of batting that ensures they're soft and will hold up to the rigors of a hospital stay.

Despite the seemingly small number of quilters in the chapter, their quilts are anything but cookie-cutter.

"We send a variety," Thomas said. "In fact, [an Army chaplain] sent me an e-mail after he received his box and ... said, 'I love to turn your boxes upside-down and watch the colors fall out.'"

The differing patterns do more than keep one quilt from looking like the next, Thomas said. The pattern name often is included on the label, which raises some curiosity in the recipients.

Two quilt recipients have told the group that they go online to look at the organization's Web site and to research the history of the pattern. "It gives them something to do in the hospital," Thomas explained.

While she never knows where her group's quilts will end up when they're shipped overseas, Thomas said she knows for a fact that they have a huge impact on the recipients.

The half dozen quilts used in the "Army Wives" episode theoretically will end up at the fictional Fort Marshall, where the show is set. But their real impact will be much broader. They not only will bring comfort to real servicemembers, but also will shine a spotlight on Quilts of Valor Foundation's less-recognized chapters, Thomas said.

"Army Wives" second season begins June 8 at 10 p.m. on Lifetime Network.

Editor's Note: To find out about more individuals, groups and organizations that are helping to support the nation's servicemembers, visit www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil. America Supports You directly connects military members to the support of the America people and offers a tool to the general public in their quest to find meaningful ways to support the military community.

By Gerry J. Gilmore

American Forces Press Service

April 14, 2008 - Increased security brought about by military success against insurgents in the western portion of Iraq's Anbar province is enabling a drawdown of U.S. forces there as well as enhanced regional reconstruction efforts, a senior Marine commander told Pentagon reporters today. "The insurgents, by and large, have been marginalized in western Anbar," Marine Corps Col. Pat Malay, commander of Regimental Combat Team 5, told Pentagon reporters during a satellite-carried news conference from Camp Ripper, Iraq. Malay's area of operations comprises about 30,000 square miles, an area about the size of South Carolina.

During a previous Iraq tour in Fallujah two years ago, Malay recalled, multitudes of foreign fighters were entering western Iraq from Syria. Today, there are very few foreign fighters in his area of operations, he observed.

"Quite frankly, I think we've killed a lot of them, and I think that the enemy is having a more difficult time recruiting to the numbers that they have in the past," Malay said. In addition, foreign fighters no longer are transiting across the Syrian border into Anbar province, the colonel said.

With insurgents "on the run" in western Anbar province, the resultant reduced violence has enabled a drawdown of U.S. forces in his sector, Malay said. Three of his command's five battalions have rotated home over the past three months, he noted.

Meanwhile, the numbers of Iraqi security forces in western Anbar continue to grow, Malay said, noting his area of operations now has 5,000 police, 1,000 highway patrolmen and 7,000 Iraqi soldiers.

Iraqi soldiers and police are increasingly taking the lead in security operations, Malay said. Recent Iraqi-led operations have achieved successes against insurgents in Hit, Haditha and Qaim, he pointed out.

The drop in violence also has enabled a larger focus on reconstruction programs such as building needed schools and providing water and electricity needs for the local populace, the colonel added.

Citing recent humanitarian assistance efforts in Anbar province, Malay pointed to the story of Amenah, a 2-year-old Iraqi girl from Haditha who was flown to the United States in February for surgery on her ailing heart. Surgeons at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., were able to correct Amenah's congenital heart defect, Malay said. Today, Amenah is a healthy little girl, he noted, while the Haditha hospital is now receiving much-needed upgrades so it can attend to other sick children.

The American public should be very proud of U.S. servicemembers' efforts in Anbar province, Malay said.

"They're the next great generation, and they are winning here," Malay said of the Marines, sailors, airmen and soldiers serving in Anbar. "It's mind-boggling; the changes that have taken place here."

By Cpl. Adam Johnston, USMC

Special to American Forces Press Service

Jan. 14, 2008 - After more than 12 months of hard work in Iraq's Anbar province, the Marines and sailors of Regimental Combat Team 2 are finally heading home. Their deployment began Dec. 30, 2006, and the team officially took the fight from Regimental Combat Team 7 on Jan. 20, 2007. As they head home to Camp Lejeune, N.C., later this month, members of RCT 2 will turn the mission over to Regimental Combat Team 5, from Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Marine Col. H. Stacy Clardy III, RCT 2 commander, said in a recent news conference that when the team arrived, its area of operations -- known as AO Denver -- was one of the most dangerous places in Iraq. "Now, it's not," he said. "If I were to characterize our situation here in western al Anbar, I would simply say that we, the Iraqis and Americans, are now winning. And for us, winning is peace."

Clardy has more than 6,000 Marines, sailors and soldiers under his command in an area of operation that encompasses 30,000 square miles -- about the size of South Carolina -- and is home to a half million people.

Success didn't happen overnight. Iraqi security forces improved steadily through 2007, inching closer and closer to self-sufficiency, the colonel said. Some 5,200 Iraqi police, several hundred highway patrol men, and 4,200 Iraqi army soldiers now serve in the area.

"The Army brigades have grown 200 percent in the last seven months," Clardy said. "The Iraqi police have also grown by 40 percent. This growth, and improvements in Iraqi security forces, highlights the commitment by the tribes to their own future alongside coalition forces and the Iraqi government."

The increase in Iraqi security forces is directly attributable to a fundamental change in mindset by the local sheiks and, therefore, their tribes, the colonel said.

"I can honestly say that the Iraqi leaders get it," he said. "And by 'it,' I mean they know the only way to peace and prosperity is through a legitimate government, focused on the needs of the people and driven by the rule of law. They're tired of war. They want to move into the 21st century."

RCT 2 conducted six regimental-sized operations during its tour. As a result, the area has seen an overall 75 percent reduction in enemy incidents over the past 10 months. More improvised explosive devices are being found than are detonating, Clardy said, and weapons caches found have become progressively less sophisticated.

"Right now, we see a ratio of 80 percent IED finds and 20 percent IED attacks," he explained. "Most of the caches we're finding now are old and crusty. The enemy's IEDs have gone from what we would consider military-grade ordnance down to homemade explosives."

In the province formerly known as the "Wild West," the "Anbar awakening" has become a model for the rest of Iraq. The question is: Can it be replicated?

"The one thing about Iraq is that every area is different," Clardy said. "It'd be very difficult to apply a cookie-cutter approach, particularly in this type of warfare. But can we learn from others? Absolutely. By studying what's going on in other parts of Iraq, these techniques could be applied."

Though progress has been made on RCT 2's watch, Clardy said, the American public must guard against claiming victory just yet.

"Make no mistake about it, we are still at war," Clardy said. "Al Qaeda still exists in AO Denver, if only through their minions. These extremists are committed to their illegitimate extremist views and undermining the path to peace. They are still driven to harm Americans and Iraqis alike."

(Marine Cpl. Adam Johnston serves as a combat correspondent with Regimental Combat Team 2.)

P.S.  I almost forgot to say ... TOMORROW!!!  My older daughter and I leave tomorrow for a visit with phsbum.  She graduates Wednesday from Army Basic training at Ft. Jackson, SC, and we will be able to spend Thanksgiving with her!  We'll be there Mon - Friday!  YIPPEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!   Don't know how much opportunity I'll have to visit here, so ...