Progress 2024

In tribute to military heroes Honoring local veterans for their service and sacrifice

Franklin County 2024

Contact Russellville City Hall at 256-332-6060 304 Jackson Ave. N Russellville, AL

Russellville City Councilmen David Palmer, William Nale, Arthur Elliott, Jamie Harris, Gary Cummings, and Mayor David Grissom

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Live, Work & Raise a family

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PROGRESS 2024

In tribute to military heroes

2024

Table of Contents 3 IN MEMORIAM 4 CODY BRAGWELL

18 JERRY FANCHER

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AMERICAN LEGION

20 ERIC REASON

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MOUSEY BROWN

21 THOMAS RANDALL

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HUGH PLOTT

MILLER

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VFW POST 5184

25 BILL JACKSON

19 ROBBIE RICHARDSON

11 TONY CHARD

27 JOHNNIE POUNDERS

12 MARK DUNBAR

29 TROY OLIVER

14 JROTC

31 CRAIG BULLION P.O. Box 1088 501 N. Jackson Ave. Suite 7 Russellville, AL 35653 256-332-1881 www.franklincountytimes.com

Editorial

Alison James María Camp

Marketing Fred Ellison Administrative Sommer Morris

Letter from the editor

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rogress 2024 turns the spotlight on perhaps the most influential segment of our society. These heroes rarely receive the honor and gratitude they deserve: our veterans and service members.

Patriotism is alive and well in this corner of the state, and Franklin Countians have a rich tradition of honoring their veterans. Annual recognitions like the Russellville Veterans Day Parade and Every Light a Prayer for Peace cerALISON JAMES emonies, along with school programs Managing Editor and the placement of banners and flags in downtown Russellville, go just a little way toward giving “honor to whom honor” is due. We hope this year’s Progress edition will be another small piece of honoring their brave and selfless service.

This special publication includes stories profiling veterans across Franklin County, who were gracious enough to share their memories and thoughts for this edition.

We also feature the local memorials that honor those servicemen and women who have paid the ultimate price – located at Russellville Veterans Park, adjacent to the Franklin County Archives; Phil Campbell Memorial Park, right in the middle of downtown Phil Campbell; and Bay Tree Park in Red Bay, along with the memorials at the Franklin County Courthouse and in East Franklin.

We even have a look at the local American Legion and VFW posts, plus the Russellville High School JROTC, giving you a chance to meet a few students who are considering becoming part of the illustrious tradition of military service.

We hope Progress 2024 will be a lasting tribute to military heroes.

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In memoriam

Monuments honor the fallen of Franklin

By Alison James alison.james@franklincountytimes.com

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atriotism is a strong value in Franklin County, where there is a rich tradition of honoring veterans.

Among many who cherish a deep gratitude for the service of veterans is Chris Ozbirn, director of the Franklin County Archives. Ozbirn, in her role as archivist and historian, has made it one of her priorities to shine a spotlight on county veterans and their service.

“They need to be honored. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be here.

We wouldn’t have what we have,” said Ozbirn. “My husband Hilton was a dedicated veteran – he was in World War II and Korea in the United States Army … I think any way we can honor veterans, we need to do that.”

A hallway at the Archives, located at 300 East Limestone St., in Russellville, is designated the Hall of Honor – a use for which it was destined from the beginning. “When we first got this building, I told all the people who were working with me, ‘I don’t care what y’all do in the rest of this building, but this hallway, I’ve got something special in mind. I want that to be the Hall

of Honor,’” Ozbirn explained. “So that’s what we did. When we started out, people would come in, and we would ask them, if they had a relative in service, would they bring us a picture.” The hallway is home to more than 300 photos donated by family members. There’s also a room just off the hall that boasts a military display.

Ozbirn was also instrumental in the banner project in downtown Russellville, following a discussion with American Legion Post 64 Commander Grant Atkins. “He and I went to Mayor Grissom and talked to him, and he was all for it,” Ozbirn said. “The city was gracious

enough to supply the poles and hardware; they’ve gone above and beyond what they had to do.”

When Ozbirn began to market and sell the banners, which feature a picture of a veteran with their information, there was immediate, overwhelming interest.

All told, 203 banners were sold.

They are placed on light posts throughout the downtown during patriotic holidays. “I’ve still got people (asking to buy them),” Ozbirn said. “I can’t sell any more” – there are no more light posts to use, as of right now.

See MONUMENTS, Page 13

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Progress 2024

Thank you for your service,

CODY BRAGWELL, U.S. MARINES

By Alison James alison.james@franklincountytimes.com

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hese days Cody Bragwell, 33, is a pipefitter with the Russellville Gas Board. He’s the husband of Jennifer and the father of Porter, 13, and Evelyn, 7. Back in mid-2008, his life looked a little different: Fresh out of high school, Russellville class of 2008, Bragwell joined the United States Marines.

“I had an uncle who was in the Marine Corps in the ’80s, and I always looked up to him,” Bragwell explained. “Ever since I was in probably seventh or eighth grade, it was pretty much what I knew I wanted to do.” He said his friends and family were excited for him when he joined up – although his uncle warned him it would be a challenging road, a true life-anddeath experience, and his mother was not 100 percent enthused. As a 17-year-old, Bragwell’s parents had to sign for him to enlist. “She knew that she might as well let me sign up at 17 or it would just make me mad, and I would sign up anyway the next year,” Bragwell said.

The Golden Tiger alum turned 18 in June and shipped out to boot camp in Parris Island, S.C., in July. Breaking his foot slowed the progression of his military training, landing him in a medical rehabilitation platoon for five weeks. “Sitting five weeks in the medical platoon – that was probably the worst part,” he said.

“You’re not going forward, you’re not going backward, you’re just stuck.”

Combat training school at Camp Lejeune, Jacksonville, N.C., followed boot

Bragwell, right, serves his country in the U.S. Marines.

camp. Bragwell was destined for even more specialized training to follow. “I scored really high on my ASVAB,” Bragwell explained. The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, which is administered to all enlisting service members, “figures out whether you’re good mechanically, or if you’d be good with computers, or learning another language,” Bragwell said. The test showed his aptitude for technical training, and Bragwell was assigned to the Center for Information Dominance, Information Warfare Training Command Corry Station, in Pensacola, Fla. After an in-depth background check, Bragwell attained a top secret/sensitive compartmented information clearance and underwent months of training in an SCI Facility.

“When I was getting ready to graduate, they gave me the option to choose my duty station: North Carolina, California or Hawaii,” Bragwell said. A tangential factor made the decision for him: He had just bought a motorcycle, so it was an easy choice to select the west coast to enjoy scenic motorcycle rides during his off-duty time.

Bragwell served in the 1st Radio Battalion at Camp Pendleton in California.

Following a machine gun instructors’ course in the School of Infantry, he became a machine gun instructor.

He later served as a turret gunner for his team when they deployed to Afghanistan in 2010. He also put his security training to work as a signal intelligence operator. “I would run the equipment we used for intercepting communications,”

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Bragwell, center, serves with fellow Marines.

Bragwell explained. His team would support light armored reconnaissance battalions in intercepting shipments of drugs and weapons in transport from Pakistan to Afghanistan. They would intercept communications from the enemy and provide information to other military personnel, and analysts and linguists would use the information they intercepted to map out enemy strategies. “It could be fun at times. It was a very small team.”

Bragwell spent seven months in Afghanistan in 2010. He said when they first deployed, “I was kind of scared, not knowing what to expect.”

“You’ve got to have your mind right and know what you’re going into,” he said. “I think always keeping that mindset helped, of just ‘I’m in the middle of war zone. We’re actively trying to kill bad guys, and they’re actively trying to kill us.’ You shouldn’t be surprised when bombs start going off and people starting shooting at you.”

Bragwell deployed to Afghanistan again in 2012, after mountain warfare training in Bridgeport, Calif., during 2011. Based in the Helmand province of Afghanistan, Bragwell and his fellow Marines carried out various operations, including foot patrols and vehicle-mounted operations. Bragwell served as team leader.

One mission was Operation Branding Iron in Zamindawar, during which an incident occurred that particularly stands out in Bragwell’s mind. “We heard an explosion one day and couldn’t figure out what happened. Nobody was reporting anything that had happened,”

he said. “About 30 minutes to an hour later, these two people come running up with a wheelbarrow.” Inside were injured children; a translator was able to ascertain that the children had triggered an IED while playing soccer – an IED placed by their parents and intended to target U.S. troops. Bragwell’s team was able to get the children evac’ed to get medical attention – during which time they came under sniper and machine gun fire. Bragwell said he couldn’t help but marvel at the irony, that they were attacked while trying to offer compassionate aid.

See BRAGWELL, Page 13

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American Legion Posts 64 and 120:

VETERANS STRENGTHENING AMERICA

By Alison James alison.james@franklincountytimes.com

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ccording to the organization’s website, The American Legion was chartered by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic veterans organization.

Focusing on service to veterans, servicemembers and communities, the Legion evolved from a group of war-weary veterans of World War I into one of the most influential nonprofit groups in the United States. The group boasts as its motto, “Veterans strengthening America.”

Today, membership stands at nearly 2 million in more than 13,000 posts worldwide – including two active posts in Franklin County.

“Love of country was instilled in me,” explained Grant Atkins, commander of Post 64 in Russellville, in recalling his 29 years of military service. After participating in the ROTC at the University of North Alabama, Atkins – a graduate of Russellville High School – served at multiple postings, including Camp Shelby, Mississippi, and in Puerto Rico. “It was sort of like have bags, will travel,” Atkins explained.

He was with the 115ht Signal Battalion of the National Guard. He trained soldiers as their units were called up for deployment.

At retirement in 2011, he was a lieutenant colonel. He’s now the fourth-generation owner of the family business, Atkins Marble and Granite Works, and he has been the Post 64 commander since 2012, after joining the American Legion in 2011.

Atkins said joining the American Legion just seemed like a natural progression following his military retirement.

The local post has about 50 members, the most active of whom meet monthly for a meal and fellowship – every second Thursday at 6 p.m. at North Highlands church of Christ.

The post is involved in a number of activities throughout the year, from sending students to Boys State and Girls State, to coordinating the Veterans Day Parade, to monitoring the retired flag disposal box at the Franklin County Courthouse.

In the past the post has also sponsored an American Legion baseball team.

Atkins praised the community and the city for their support of the American Legion, including the placing of the light post banners during patriotic holidays.

To find out more about Post 64, people can reach Atkins at his store.

Grant Atkins, right, observes Veterans Day with fellow Legion members Johnnie Pounders and Troy Oliver. Atkins is commander of American Legion Post 64.

Over the years, the Legion nationally has “influenced considerable social change in America, won hundreds of benefits for veterans and produced many important programs for children and youth,” according to its website.

“The American Legion is built on a promise from men and women who swore with their lives to defend and protect the United States through military service,” the site explains. “The promise begins at enlistment, grows through training and discipline in the U.S. Armed Forces and continues after discharge, as veterans in service to community, state and nation.”

In Red Bay Post 120 is commanded by Waymon Blacklidge, who served his country with the U.S. Air Force from 1968-1972 in Vietnam. He said joining the American Legion, of which he has been a member for more than 30 years, was “a way to contribute and help my fellow veterans, espe-

cially with medical issues and such.”

After retiring from his corporate pilot career, Blacklidge returned to Red Bay, his hometown, about 11 years ago. This is his third year serving as post commander.

The Red Bay post has about 24 members, and the group meets the third Thursday of every month at 6 p.m. at Red Bay City Hall. “The biggest thing we do is help veterans get their benefits,” Blacklidge explained. “It’s a good program.”

The group’s biggest annual project is Wreaths Across America. This past December the post – joined by volunteers from Red Bay High School and other groups – laid 700 wreath on veteran graves.

“It just gets everyone in the community to remember the veterans,” he noted. “We have a tendency to overlook and forget.”

The post also raises the flag at Red Bay football home games and has provid-

ed flags to some local groups as needed.

To find out more about Post 120, people can reach Blacklidge at 256-483-0014.

The American Legion’s mission statement, as adopted in October 2020, is: “To enhance the well-being of America’s veterans, their families, our military, and our communities by our devotion to mutual helpfulness.” As part of that mission, the Legion has identified certain values: 1. A VETERAN IS A VETERAN: The American Legion embraces all current and former members of the military and endeavors to help them transition into their communities.

2. SELFLESS SERVICE: The Legion celebrates all who contribute to something larger than themselves and inspires others to serve and strengthen America.

3. AMERICAN VALUES AND PATRIOTISM: The American Legion advocates for upholding and defending the

See VETERANS, Page 7

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Thank you for your service,

MOUSEY BROWN, U.S. ARMY

By Alison James alison.james@franklincountytimes.com

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hen the United States Army drafted Mousey Brown in 1967, the 23-year-old knew his duty.

“The way I was raised up and believed, you defended your country,” Brown said. “That was your duty as a man: When you got your call, you served your country.”

The Russellville man had received a few deferments thanks to his employment at the aluminum plant, but when his time came, he was ready to follow in the footsteps of his three older brothers, who had all served in the Korean War. “I owed it to my country to do what I was supposed to do.”

Brown’s service fell during the Vietnam War. He was deployed with the 9th Infantry Division, Company E, with the “best company commander that ever put on a pair of battle fatigues. He wouldn’t ask you to do anything he wasn’t up front doing himself. I still stay in contact with him. The 9th Infantry Division has a reunion every two years.”

When Brown reported to the draft board on Jackson Avenue and spoke to a Ms. Bobo, he found he wasn’t due to ship out to basic training until two months later – but he didn’t want to delay the inevitable. “In the next two or three weeks, I was gone,” Brown said. “Six of us in Russellville went up at the same time. We went to Montgomery to be sworn in. One had a health problem, so they sent him back, but five of us were inducted at the same time.”

They were in the same company, different platoons at basic training. “They’ve all passed away but me.”

Brown’s service began with eight weeks of basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia. “It was tough. It was hot. I was stationed at Sand Hill, and that’s what it was – sand and hill,” Brown said. After basic he had AIT at Tigerland, Fort Polk, Louisiana. Brown and his fellow soldiers learned how to handle the M-16, M-14, grenades and machine guns and underwent tough physical train-

ing. From there, they deployed to Vietnam.

“I was scared the day I got there, and I was scared the day I left,” said Brown. “It hadn’t come across to me plain what it was really going to be like until the first mission we went on. Then I knew.”

Brown was assigned to Camp Bearcat in south Vietnam and then Dong Tam in the Mekong Delta. “We did a lot of things I wish I hadn’t done, but it was required. It was my duty. I didn’t question,” Brown said. “We were told at that time we were defending our country against communism.”

When Brown reflects on his time in Vietnam, he remembers the oppressive heat and the monsoon rains. He said he’s thankful to be one of the few who weren’t shot in action. “Some got assignments where there wasn’t a lot of action going on, but that wasn’t true for me.” He said the barracks at Dong Tam was a tin-topped building with bunks. “Reminds me of a small chicken house now.” They ate rations, rarely a hot meal. “You just thought about food from back home.”

He said he got to call home one time during his 10 months deployed. “It wasn’t like it was in Iraq and Afghanistan where you could call home every day. I just looked forward to getting letters from home – whoever wanted to write. It didn’t even matter whether you knew them or not, as long as you got letters.” Brown would receive notes from family as well as schoolchildren and others back home, and he would write back when he had the time. He spent a period of R&R in Taipei, Taiwan, but aside from that, much of his time deployed was in heavy fighting. His group served on a barracks ship in the Saigon River, the U.S.S. Bennewah, as part of the Mobile Riverine Force.

After about seven months in Vietnam, Brown went on emergency leave when his father had a heart attack.

The Red Cross helped facilitate a 30-day visit home. He said returning to Vietnam was hard. “I knew what I was going back to – the living conditions and the war.” As his parents continued to have health problems, Brown was

eventually able to get compassionate reassignment and an early-out discharge, thanks in part to the efforts of a friend-of-a-fried, Congressman Tom Bevill. “I’ve still got the letters he wrote me telling me I was needed at home.”

Like so many returning to the states after serving in Vietnam, Brown received an icy cold welcome home.

“When we came through San Francisco, we got cussed and spit on – humiliated, by protestors,” said Brown. “That’s the reason I still don’t like California now … We did not come home as heroes. We came home as scum of the earth.”

VETERANS United States Constitution; equal justice and opportunity for everyone and discrimination against no one; youth education; responsible citizenship; and honoring military service by observing and participating in memorial events.

4. FAMILY AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: The organization meets the unique needs of local communities.

5. ADVANCING THE VISION: The American Legion educates, mentors and leads new generations of Americans.

6. HONOR THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE US: The American Legion pays perpetual respect for all past military sacrifices to ensure they are never forgotten by new generations.

See BROWN, Page 18

Continued from Page 6

The American Legion Preamble The American Legion Preamble has been the beacon light of The American Legion for more than 100 years.

For God and Country we associate ourselves together for the following purposes: To uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America; To maintain law and order; To foster and perpetuate a one hundred percent Americanism; To preserve the memories and incidents of our associations in all wars; To inculcate a sense of individual obligation to the community, state and nation; To combat the autocracy of both the classes and the masses; To make right the master of might; To promote peace and goodwill on earth; To safeguard and transmit to posterity the principles of justice, freedom and democracy; To consecrate and sanctify our comradeship by our devotion to mutual helpfulness.

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Thank you for your service,

HUGH PLOTT, U.S. ARMY

By Alison James alison.james@franklincountytimes.com

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pending 30 years in the United States Army National Guard has given Hugh Plott, 51, a life experience or two.

Plott retired two years ago, after serving from 1991-2021. His military service began, funnily enough, on a dare. The Phil Campbell High School graduate was 19, working at the Franklin County Jail – his father, Larry Plott, was sheriff at the time – when he and a buddy saw a commercial for military service. They dared each other to join up – and they went to a recruiting office and did it.

From 1991-2000, Plott describes himself as a “traditional National Guard soldier.”

He took part in weekend drills and summer training, and his unit assisted after natural disasters, taking on tasks like driving emergency personnel to their jobs through dangerous travel conditions. It was a good role and one that allowed Plott to continue working at the Franklin County Jail at the same time. In 2000, however, he transitioned to full-time active duty at the Russellville Armory.

Part of the 115th Signal Battalion, Plott has long described his unit as “kind of like AT&T for the Army,” instrumental in providing for communications. That role continued when his unit activated in December 2003 and, after a few months at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, deployed to Iraq from March 2004 to March 2005.

Plott said 119 men deployed from Russellville in the 115th at that time, part of a battalion of more than 500 – from Sheffield, Florence, Moulton and Haleyville.

He said getting the orders to Iraq came as a little bit of a shock.

“You assume there’s no way you’re getting deployed. Even during Vietnam they didn’t deploy the National Guard units,” Plott said. He felt “kinda like everybody else. Nervous. A little scared. Knowing we were going to be away from our families – to me, that was the biggest thing.”

Plott had married his wife Sheryl in 1997.

He had three young daughters at the time, two at home along with one from his first marriage. Now his girls – Kylee, Chloe and Hillary – are 21, 23 and 29, respectively, but when he first deployed, they were 7 months, 3 and 10. “I tell people all the time, it was rough on us as soldiers, but I think the families have a rougher time

than we did. They had to carry on here,” Plott said.

Despite his initial surprise at deploying and his reluctance to leave his family, Plott said he was proud to serve. “I tell people even now, it’s a sense of duty,” he said. “I enjoyed serving my country, and I enjoyed serving overseas.”

Posted near Mosul, Iraq, Plott and his unit faced heavy attacks. “Iraq was probably the scariest deployment I’ve been on,” he said. “There were constantly rockets hitting the base. We had a lot of what they call ‘indirect fire.’

“We did have to go on the road and get from Point A to Point B, with a lot of IEDs … You’d lay down at night and wonder whether you’d wake up the next morning.” A suicide bomber blew up one of their chow halls in December 2004. “I think at the time it was the most deaths at one time during a certain time period.” Plott was there during the infamous Battle of Mosul 2004, in which insurgents nearly captured the city.

He remembers when the enemy was bombing the hospital right next to his barracks, and he remembers running for cover. He remembers walking along and seeing the guy walking in front of him get

his leg blown off. He remembers praying fervently and counting on God’s protection to bring him peace.

In this first deployment – which would not be Plott’s last – he recalled they were using older equipment, still based on a relay model. They had to have line of sight between one antennae and the next to facilitate communications between different points. It gave the “AT&T of the Army” plenty to do.

Plott would deploy again from October 2011 to October 2012, to Afghanistan, stationed at the Kandahar Air Base, and from 2017-2018 to Kuwait with operations throughout the Middle East – Afghanistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Dubai.

In Afghanistan his unit was able to work with newer satellite equipment to provide communications. “We were able to spread it out more, and it didn’t take as many people,” he explained. “To be honest, though, it required a smarter soldier.

Soldiers had to progressively be smarter to handle the more high-tech equipment.”

Compared to Iraq, his Afghanistan deployment, Plott said, “was not near as dangerous. We didn’t get but a couple rockets the whole time we were there, and we didn’t convoy much. If we needed to go some-

where, we’d get on a helicopter and go site to site.” Kuwait was also a safer deployment, as his unit was not in the primary combat zone. “We were kind of in the game but on the sidelines,” Plott explained.

Since his return home and later retirement, Plott said he has had to deal with the effects of PTSD as well as traumatic brain injury. He’s been plagued by panic attacks; one even made him sure he was having a heart attack. “You never really come back the same person you were when you left.

You lose so much. It seems like you lose a little bit of yourself,” Plott said. “You’ve got to have a supportive family.”

The support he has experienced makes Plott reflect on the way Vietnam veterans were treated; he served with two men who had deployed to Vietnam. “It’s a shame, and shame on some of the people in our country back then,” he said. “Even if they didn’t agree with the war in Vietnam, these were still American citizens, and a lot of them were drafted – they didn’t even choose to go.”

Of course, between deployments while stateside, Plott continued his role in serving on the home front. Memorably, he was part of the response following the 2011 tornado. It hit close to home, literally: The storms wiped out his father’s and grandmother’s houses and killed three people on the road where he lives. He said of the many awards he received during his military service, it’s the one he got for his work in the tornado aftermath that makes him the proudest. “I really felt like, that’s what the Guard is for,” Plott said. “We took our satellites to four or five different areas in Franklin and Marion counties and set people up with phones and Internet … I think that was one of my proudest moments to serve – being able to help my neighbor.” Plott said because the Guard knows the area and the people, it can respond quickly.

Plott retired in November 2021 as a master sergeant. These days he’s contractor through SEIC for First Army. A dozen or so of his colleagues are also former military, with whom he served. He works in logistical support and equipment management for mobilization.

Plott said he definitely recommends the National Guard to anyone considering serving their country in the military. “Unlike some people say, I think it’s a good career. I think it builds character,” he said.

“It provided a good life for my family.”

He has one grandson, 4-month-old Reed.

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VFW Post 5184:

NO ONE DOES MORE FOR VETERANS

By Alison James alison.james@franklincountytimes.com

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ccording to the Veterans of Foreign Wars website, the VFW had its beginnings in 1899, when veterans of the Spanish-American War of 1898 and the Philippine Insurrection of 1899-1902 founded local organizations to secure rights and benefits for their service. These grassroots groups soon banded together to form the VFW as it is known today, with membership standing at more than 1.4 million members of the VFW and its Auxiliary. The nonprofit group boasts as its motto, “No one does more for veterans.”

VFW membership is open to any veteran who served in a foreign conflict.

In Franklin County, VFW Post 5184 is active and welcoming new members, led by post commander Eric Reason.

To put it simply, “The VFW is good for opportunities for veterans to get involved in

stuff after their military service. It gives them something to do,” Reason explained. Reason, a recent transplant to Phil Campbell, succeeded Bill Jackson as post commander in March 2023. He said the camaraderie to be found in the VFW is often a key draw. “Some veterans want nothing to do with the military at all after they get out, and that’s understandable because some of the stuff we see is not pretty, and people don’t want to be reminded of that,” Reason said. “But a lot of times you’ll share stories, things you haven’t thought about in years, and it’s a way to decompress things that have been building up for a while.

“When you try to bottle up emotions and push feelings down, its’ a ‘manly’ thing to do, but the further you push down emotions, it acts like a beach ball, and when it finally does come up, it will bust you in the face.” Sharing with fellow vets is one way to avoid or mitigate that.

See VFW, Page 10

FILE PHOTO The VFW flag flies during the annual Veterans Day Parade in downtown Russellville.

T H A N K YO U cbsbank.com | 877.332.1710

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VFW

Continued from page 9 ions

The local VFW meets the fourth Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at the VFW facility in downtown Russellville. Reason said while the group has hopes to grow and expand, it wasn’t that long ago that they were faced with shutting down. Following COVID-19, the post was floundering. They even held a vote on whether to disband.

“It was just hard to do certain things,” said Reason, who helped lead the charge to revitalize the post. Members voted unanimously to stay in operation, despite district-level efforts to shut it down. Since then efforts have focused on becoming more active again and recruiting new members, as well as seeing what can be done to rehab the building where they meet.

“We have leaky pipes, and we’ve got no heat,” Reason said. “Apparently the basement flooded, and we used to have meetings in the basement, and we had all kinds of kitchen stuff.”

Facility problems have limited the VFW from some of its former activities – Reason said some of the “old timers” tell stories about hosting meals and dances – but that’s not stopping them from getting engaged in the community. VFW members take part in Russellville’s Veterans Day Parade; they speak at schools for veteran and patriotic events; they host student essay contests; they place flags at veteran gravesites; and they support fellow members who are sick or in need of encouragement. This past year they set up a Fallen Soldier Table at a local nursing home, and they collected four large boxes of toys for the Marines’ Toys for Tots during the holidays.

Another big upcoming project is restarting the VFW Auxiliary in Franklin County. Auxiliary membership is open to immediate relatives of those veterans were served in foreign conflict. “They basically make sure that we can do what we need to do,” Reason explained. “They take care of us so we can take care of others, and then they do things that help out in the community as well.”

The VFW, in its own words, was “instrumental in establishing the Veterans Administration, development of the national cemetery system, in the fight for compensation for Vietnam vets exposed to Agent Orange and for veterans diagnosed with Gulf War Syndrome.” Additionally, the organization notes its part in helping see the GI Bill passage in 2008, “giving expanded educational benefits to America’s active duty service members, and members of the guard and

VFW MISSION AND VISION MISSION: To foster camaraderie among United States veterans of overseas conflicts. To serve our veterans, the military and our communities. To advocate on behalf of all veterans.

VISION: Ensure that veterans are respected for their service, always receive their earned entitlements and are recognized for the sacrifices they and their loved ones have made on behalf of this great country.

reserves, fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.” The organization also notes among its achievements being “the driving force behind the Veterans Access and Accountability Act of 2014,” along with the 2019 Blue Water Navy Veteran Act and the 2022 Honoring Our PACT Act. The VFW also continually fight for improved VA medical centers services for women veterans.

“Since its founding in 1899, the VFW has enacted many programs and services geared to meet the current needs of America’s service members, veterans and military families, as well to meet community needs worldwide,” the VFW website notes.

“VA claims assistance, legislative advocacy, troop support programs, youth activities, community service and scholarship are a few of the ways we work to give back to those who’ve given so much for all of us.”

Current VFW membership in Franklin County is about 30, although not everyone makes it to the meetings or participates actively. Reason said they hope to see that number grow. Joshua Thomas serves as post quartermaster, and Barry Moore is post adjutant.

The VFW values include a commitment to: 1. Always put the interests of our members first 2. Treat donors as partners in our cause 3. Promote patriotism 4. Honor military service 5. Ensure the care of veterans and their families 6. Serve our communities 7. Promote a positive image of the VFW 8. Respect the diversity of veteran opin-

Eric Reason, commander, stands at the door of VFW Post 5184, in Russellville.

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Thank you for your service,

“Preparing our Students for the Future”

TONY CHARD, U.S. MARINES

By Alison James alison.james@franklincountytimes.com

Greg Hamilton Superintendent of Franklin County Schools Pre-K - 12th grade

I

t was January 1984. Tony Chard was 18 years old, approaching his graduation from Coffee High School in Florence and without a definite plan for his future. One course of action presented itself, and after a chat with a recruiter, Chard had made his decision.

He followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, father and uncles and committed to the United States Marines. “It was just something I felt like I should do, and I did it.” He left for boot camp Nov. 10, 1984.

“To me personally, boot camp – didn’t matter what branch it was – their goal was to see if they could break you physically but more so mentally. If they could break you mentally, they didn’t want you,” Chard explained. “It made us stronger … Once you got the hang of it, the physical things wasn’t a big deal no more.”

After boot camp, Chard went to heavy equipment mechanic school and was later assigned to Okinawa for a year with the 3rd Marine Division. He was in a support platoon for heavy equipment and learned to operate much of it. After that he was assigned to a generator shop, through which he supplied power for radio communications and other needs.

“I was fortunate enough that I was always stationed with a combat unit,” Chard said. “I joined the Marine Corps because I wanted to go into combat.”

He went through different kinds of training in countries across the world – like the Philippines, Thailand and South Korea.

Chard married his wife Dana Seay in 1987. They had their daughter in 1988 – which “got me to thinking,” Chard said.

“I’d been on standby for some conflicts” – like action in Libya under Gaddafi in 1985. “We sat on a tarmac for two days, to see what Libya would do, in case we needed to ship out.” With a new family to take

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care of, Chard decided to complete his military service in 1988.

But that wasn’t the end of the story.

Chard’s younger brother had joined the Marine Corps Reserves, and he encouraged his older brother to do the same. With monthly drills being the main requirement, and with the monthly paycheck being enough to cover his truck payment and insurance, he decided to join the Reserves in 1989.

In August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait under Saddam Hussein. Military units began to activate. In December 1990, on the brink of Desert Storm, Chard’s unit got the call.

“That was right up my alley. That was something I’d been trying to do since ’84,” Chard said. “We went over there, did our thing and came back home.”

That’s the short version. Chard, with Kilo Battery, 4th Marines, was stationed at a camp in Saudi Arabia. “We’d go and run up into Kuwait, but the day the ground war started, we breached the minefields and all that on the Iraqi-Kuwait border,” Chard explained. His unit

See CHARD, Page 12

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Thank you for your service,

MARK DUNBAR, U.S. MARINES

By Alison James alison.james@franklincountytimes.com

T

he United States Marine Corps was the destination for 17-year-old Mark Dunbar back in 1959.

“My parents had to sign for me,” recalled Dunbar, of Russellville. “I signed up with three other fellas from my graduating class, and we went to Camp Pendleton in California for boot camp.” Of course, after boot camp, they all received different assignments. Dunbar found himself an infantryman in the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, Kilo Company. They soon deployed to Okinawa for a year.

“I was a gunner on a 3.5 inch rocket launcher – a bazooka,” Dunbar explained. “While we were in Okinawa, we were two months aboard ship. They always keep a battalion of Marines aboard ship in the South Pacific in case there was any trouble to break out.”

During his time in Okinawa, Dunbar took part in amphibious landings in the Philippines, Japan and Taiwan. Following Okinawa, he was transferred to Treasure Island, off the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, posted to the naval and Coast Guard installation there as a brig guard. He spent about a year guarding Navy and Coast Guard prisoners before signing up to become a Marine Embassy Guard.

“We went to Quantico (Va.) for our training. We would go to the state department buildings after hours and go around and check all the offices to see if any classified materials had been left out or any of the safes had been left open,” Dunbar said. He and fellow guard trainees would go through desks and look under furniture to see if they could find any unsecured passwords

or other classified items. If they did, they would write up security violations for the offenders.

After training, his first posting was at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India. “That’s a really pretty embassy,” he said. “There was a big pond with little birds and fish.”

Dunbar and his fellow guards “wore civilian clothing, because it’s a neutral country,” he explained. “Every embassy in the world has Marine security guards, usually in the capital of the country, and in India we had about 12 Marines … We would man the front desk and then after hours, before the cleaning company would come in, we would go through all the offices and make sure there was no classified material left out.”

Following a year in New Delhi – during which time he fondly remembers getting to visit the famed, “quite impressive” Taj Mahal – he was next sent to Amman, Jordan, for two and a half years. “That was a very small embassy. I think we only had five Marines, and we did a lot of sightseeing – Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Jericho,” Dunbar said. “I enjoyed the time in Amman.

That would have been 1962-1964 or 65 … I got to travel a lot and see a lot of things. I kind of regret that I wasn’t a religious person then, and I regret not spending more time in Jerusalem and Bethlehem.” He said he remembers being there one of the first times it ever snowed on Christmas Eve in Bethlehem, and he remembers the Pope coming to visit the Jordan River.

Dunbar said his time in the military, which ended July 1965, was key in helping him organize his life. It taught him the discipline that was the foundation for life skills he has used ever since, like being on time and paying bills.

Chard was on the ground during the infamous “Highway of Death” bombing. His unit also was attached to the 2nd Marine Division and at times traveled with Army units.

“A lot of the Marines in my unit, several of them, I grew up with in high school – through church, through the community,” he said. “There were at least six or seven of us that were all from the Florence–Colbert–Lauderdale area.”

He remembers other connections, too. He ran across a cousin who was deployed at the same time, and of course his younger brother, who encouraged him to join the Reserves, was there too.

“I’m proud for the service I did, and I have a lot of respect for all veterans,” Chard said. “I’d go back tomorrow if they needed me. The countries I’ve been to, I’ve seen how they live and how they’re ruled. They aren’t all democratic countries like we are here in the United States, and a lot of people don’t understand that.

“I’ve never really liked bullies. In a lot of the countries, there’s bullies involved in running stuff,” he added. “I’m not big on that.”

Following his service in the Gulf War, Chard completed his term in the Reserves.

Chard, 58, and Dana have one daughter, Erin, and twin sons, Ben and Charlie; Chard is a twin as well. He has six grandchildren, ranging in age from 8 months to 14 years. He works in facility maintenance for the TVA and lives in Russellville.

The 83-year-old is retired from being a plant manager and scrap buyer for U.S. Reduction. He and wife Karen have two daughters: Mindy and her husband Jamie Harris, with their three children, and Amy and husband Mark Muncey, with their two children.

Continued from page 11

RIFLEMAN’S CREED This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me my rifle is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than the enemy who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will. My rifle and I know that what counts in war is not the rounds we fire, the noise of our burst, or the smoke we make. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit.

My rifle is human, even as I am human, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strengths, its parts, its accessories, its sights and its barrel. I will keep my rifle clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other.

Before God I swear this creed. My rifle and I are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life.

So be it, until victory is America’s and there is no enemy.

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Bragwell

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Continued from page 5

On the other hand, Bragwell said he and his fellow Marines encountered plenty of hospitality from many of the locals.

They were frequently offered tea and food as gestures of friendship and appreciation.

His 2012 deployment lasted eight months.

Bragwell said the important thing was maintaining a focus on “doing your job well to make sure the other guy stays alive and makes it home.” He said he tried to ignore the political aspects, instead focusing on his own role. The “rules of engagement” sometimes made that overly challenging.

“I think Afghanistan could have gone a lot different had the gloves been taken off,” he said. “We were kind of hamstrung ...

There were all these stipulations that had to be met before you could shoot someone or shoot a car that was loaded down with explosives or take action on whatever the problem was, and that hinders your ability to operate effectively.”

When it was time to return stateside once more, Bragwell said they were warned they might not receive a friendly welcome home. It was true. There were protestors at the gate when their plane landed – but Bragwell didn’t let it bother him. “We were fighting for their right to be able to do that.”

Bragwell spent the rest of his time in the military on domestic soil, working in the Systems Integration Management Office, where he was in charge of equipment. Six months before his term of duty

was supposed to end, he achieved his promotion to corporal, but although he had once considered a career in the military, “at that point I pretty well knew it wasn’t a career path for me.”

Bragwell’s service ended May 13, 2013.

“Overall I think it was a very positive experience,” he said. “I grew up a lot … If I had to do it over again, I would. I would do some things differently – maybe take certain things a little more seriously, like I had some opportunities I maybe could have taken but I didn’t. But I guess everything happens a certain way for a reason.”

When it comes to the lessons he learned, Bragwell said he particularly thinks about his experience in dealing with sensitive information. “Not everyone needs to know everything that goes on. There’s a reason we have security clearances, and there are some things the American people don’t need to know about until it’s over with,” Bragwell said. “Loose lips sink ships. You lose the element of surprise and being able to handle a situation when everyone in the media is reporting on it … All it does is give the enemy time to get ready … It puts our troops, our guys in harm’s way, in more danger.”

When Bragwell was ready to return home, his uncle flew out to California, and the two of them rode their motorcycles back to Alabama. The cross-country trip took just less than a week. Riding through a snowstorm in Arizona wasn’t the best part of the trip, but “we had a lot of fun. We did 2,600 miles in six days.”

Bragwell and his wife Jennifer have two children, Porter and Evelyn.

Bragwell said in the wake of his military service, the challenges facing veterans are often on his mind – veteran homelessness and suicide, especially. He said he would love to see more streamlining of services at the VA, as well as more manpower and more dedicated personnel to run VA operations.

He said he has mixed feelings when someone thanks him for his service.

“That’s not what I did it for,” he said.

“When someone says thank you, it can be a little awkward. It’s not a bad thing but …

I don’t want it to sound ugly, but I didn’t do it just for you.”

Monuments

Continued from page 3

The Archives is also home to Russellville Veterans Park.

The outdoor park is dedicated to the local men and women who put their lives on hold when their country needed them.

Its brick pathway winds among the monuments and features the names of many local heroes.

“When we opened to the public in 2004, we knew a lot of men in the 115th Signal Battalion,” Ozbirn recounted. The battalion was about to return home from deployment, and it sparked Ozbirn and other archive volunteers to dream up a veterans memorial park. Ozbirn designed the monuments, which honor veterans from the Gulf War, Vietnam War, Korean War, World Wars I and II and all the way to the Civil War. The park opened in 2009, after months of planning and fundraising to get it established.

“It’s really been a good asset to have up here at the Archives.”

In addition to annual recognitions like the Russellville Veterans Day Parade, the Every Light a Prayer for Peace ceremonies, school programs and the placement of banners and flags in downtown Russellville, the county has three memorial parks where monuments serve as enduring reminders of the price so many have paid. There are additional monuments in East Franklin and just past Sloss Lake on Highway 24.

See MONUMENTS, Page 32

MEMORIAL PARKS Russellville Veterans Park Russellville Veterans Park is dedicated to the local men and women who put their lives on hold when their country needed them. Adjacent to the Franklin County Archives, the park’s brick pathway winds among the monuments and features the names of many local heroes. The welcome monument, shaped like an open book, also serves as a time capsule.

Also in Russellville, at the county courthouse, is a monument that lists the names of many Franklin County natives who gave their lives for their country.

Phil Campbell Memorial Park The Phil Campbell Memorial Park includes a stone erected in honor of veterans of World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Bay Tree Park Visitors to Bay Tree Park in downtown Red Bay will notice a towering stone testament to the heroes of World War I, World War II and the Vietnam, Korea and Persian Gulf wars, in addition to several other monuments surrounding.

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PHOTOS BY MARÍA CAMP

Classroom instruction is a key aspect of Junior ROTC at Russellville High School, along with the hands-on opportunities.

Russellville High School JROTC

MEETING A HIGHER STANDARD

By Alison James alison.james@franklincountytimes.com

A

t the college level, the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps is a program that specifically prepares young adults to become officers in the United States military. In exchange for a paid college education and a guaranteed post-college career, cadets commit to serve in the military after graduation. At the high school level, however, the Junior ROTC’s aim is focused on motivating young people to be better citizens. JROTC ahelps to develop a cadet’s citizenship, character, leadership traits and responsibility. At Russellville High School, the JROTC is a popular program seeing yearly growth.

Instructors are retired Sgt. 1st Class Randy Ozbirn and retired Sgt. Maj. William O’Keefe are in their second and first years, respectively, of leading the RHS program. They follow retired Lt. Col. Norman Lier and retired 1st Sgt. Michael Conner.

“JROTC is not a training ground for the Army,” O’Keefe emphasized. “It’s a training ground for us, who have military experience, to give life experience to these

young kids in high school … The program is not designed at all to make any student think they’re going to be forced to join the Army.”

O’Keefe, who retired from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2016, said he decided to retire to Alabama after a couple of stints at Fort Rucker – located in Dale County and renamed Fort Novosel this past year – during his military career. He said he was drawn to the RHS JROTC program based on prior experience teaching, both at the high school level and in the military, where he taught deployment readiness.

At RHS the JROTC program has four levels. “I teach the first and second levels, and Randy teaches a little of the first and second but all of the third and all of the fourth,” O’Keefe explained. Each level constitutes one semester, so O’Keefe teaches primarily freshmen and sophomores, while Ozbirn has mostly juniors and seniors.

“Never once do we say, ‘Hey, if you come into this course, you have to join a branch of the service,’” Ozbirn explained.

That being the case, it’s a very small number of students who use the JROTC as a launching point to a military term of service – but some do. One current student considering

the military is sophomore Cadet Capt. Brycen Chapman.

“I’m thinking about going into the military partly for the college funds,” Chapman explained. “Mostly for the benefits and to go to college so I can get a better degree in cybersecurity and cyber warfare. I have a lot of fascination with computers and how they code and things like that, and being able to go to the military to do something that I like would be pretty fun.”

Another is freshman Cadet 1st Lt. Amel Caceres, who said she enjoys the physical activity and cooperative aspects of JROTC. “I’m thinking about going into the Army or Air Force,” she said. “I want to be a doctor, and it will help me pay for school.”

That common theme of funding a college education might be the strongest pull for JROTC students planning on military service.

“We have recruiters come in here and speak mostly about the benefits of different branches of the military,” Ozbirn noted, “because a lot of these kids want to go to college but they don’t know how they are going to finance that.”

See JROTC, Page 16

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JROTC

Continued from page 11

Brycen Chapman and Zoey Howard post the colors at Every Light a Prayer for Peace.

Ozbirn, who retired in February 2022 after serving 37 years in the Alabama Army National Guard – the last 21 years on active duty – knows firsthand the benefits of letting the military fund one’s education. He earned an associate’s degree, a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree, all funded completely by the military. O’Keefe, too, has a bachelor’s degree and a Master of Business Administration as well a master’s degree in educational leadership – all funded by the military.

The Russellville High School JROTC program boasted about 185 students across ninth through 12th grades when the school year began in August 2023.

Each level of JROTC has a slightly different focus: Year one’s central tenant is citizenship; year two focuses on leadership theory and application; year three emphasizes involvement, national service, critical thinking, conflict resolution and communication skills; and year four continues to build those skills for learning potential and future success as student prepares to graduate from high school.

As with any high school subject, students spend plenty of time in the classroom. However, JROTC also offers extensive opportunities for hands-on learning. JROTC cadets participate in extracurricular activities such as posting the colors at home football games, the Every Light a Prayer for Peace ceremony, and on-campus activities such as rifle, archery and drone operations. Students wear military uniforms each Thursday, and each cadet is awarded a rank and follows a student chain of command, much like the military chain of command. The highest-ranking students are Cadet Lt. Col. Jurnee Woods, who is battalion commander, and Cadet Command Sgt. Maj. Billy Sandoval.

For Ozbirn and O’Keefe, they welcome the opportunity to share their experiences and wisdom with the next generation.

Freshman Amel Caceres is a JROTC student considering joining the military.

“I think the thing you learn the most in the military is that everybody is an individual – no two people think the same way – and you have to learn to be a team player,” O’Keefe said. In the Russellville High School JROTC program, that translates to expectations like working well together in the classroom and avoiding negative behaviors.

“We expect them to hold themselves and each other to a higher standard.”

Ozbirn said they will often pair students together for projects, cadets who don’t usually work together. This will provide the opportunity for students to learn to cooperate with another person – maybe another person who thinks or operates differently. “It expands on the knowledge, having to associate with someone they’re not familiar with.”

Students also do several presentations during the semester, which builds confidence and public speaking skills.

For Ozbirn and O’Keefe, helping these students grow and develop isn’t just a job. It’s a calling.

“I feel that God has put me in this position – that this is where He wants me,” O’Keefe said. “I didn’t have to come back to work, but when I saw the opening for a JROTC instructor I (knew) it would give me the chance to mentor kids.”

Ozbirn agreed. “If you can teach students enough life lessons, discipline, and respect, and keep one student from taking the wrong path in life, I feel like you’ve been very successful.”

They both praised how well the program is supported by the principal and other school administrators – even other teachers. “I don’t know that I’ve ever had a position with more support than I’ve had here at Russellville High School,” Ozbirn said.

They both said they hope to see the program continue to grow. “We’d like to be five instructors deep and be able to execute multiple tasks,” O’Keefe said. They would eventually like to see a pre-JROTC course offered at Russellville Middle School.

In June, the Russellville High School JROTC program will be sending select cadets to participate in the JROTC Cadet Leadership Challenge, where they will spend four days competing in different events.

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Thank you for your service,

JERRY FANCHER, U.S. MARINES

By Alison James alison.james@franklincountytimes.com

“I

don’t think I would be where I am today if it had not been for the military. It taught me leadership, discipline, respect, motivation, integrity.”

That’s how Jerry Paul Fancher sums up his four years in United States Marines.

Fancher, 59, of Red Bay enlisted in the military from 1983-1987. He said military service was something he had always admired. He had just graduated from Belmont High School in Mississippi, and he knew he wasn’t ready for college. Military service seemed like an excellent choice.

“My dad thought it was a good thing for me,” Fancher said. “Mom was like most moms – didn’t want you to go – but I was pretty set on going.”

Basic training was at Parris Island, S.C., in November 1983. “The good thing was, it didn’t matter what society you came from, what your race was, we all got treated equal. It bonded you in a brotherhood, as a unit and as a team.” After basic, Fancher went to advanced infantry training. “You got to actually do your job and train a little more,” he said. “It was more like a school – but still a lot of running, competence courses, combat courses, rifle ranges, learning how to shoot different weapons.” With Fancher’s performance, he earned a meritorious promotion, entering into his post-training service as a lance corporal.

Following training, Fancher spent one year on a naval base in Jacksonville, Florida, assigned to security patrol. After that he served as a war-guided missile operator for an infantry unit. A member of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, Fancher was stationed at Camp Geiger in Jacksonville, N.C. – but that’s not where he spent his time. His battalion would go on six-

month floats on Navy vessels and train all over Europe.

“You’re always training, in the event that something were to happen. You stand ready at all times,” said Fancher. His days included PT as well as classroom study in topics like enemy tactics and equipment, shooting skills, navigation and more.

“It was a lot of learning and growing up in the military, and I think it would be helpful to so many people,” Fancher said.

“It teaches you to respect yourself and respect others.”

Fancher was also stationed in Okinawa for six months, and part of his training included helicopter missions. “You would walk off or rappel off and then go through simulated missions,” Fancher explained. Another training mission took place in Costa Rica. Fancher’s unit also made it to the silver screen; they can be seen in the background of scenes in “Heartbreak Ridge” with Clint Eastwood.

Following the completion of his service in 1987, Fancher returned to the

area where he had grown up. He said in a way, it was hard to be in military training all those years and not be called on to actively defend his country. His unit had been part of the U.S.’ efforts in Beirut,

Brown Brown said that came as an unwelcome surprise. “We weren’t warned what it was going to be like when we came back,” Brown said. “We didn’t have television or news over there. We didn’t really know what was going on back in the states that much.

“You were despised and hated and called baby killers – everything that could be thought of it.”

The now-80-year-old has largely made peace with it, though, taking much the same view of that treatment as he does of being diagnosed with colon cancer in 1998, and of still dealing with the chemo side effects today: “That’s just life. You take the bad with the good and go on with it.”

Lebanon, just before Fancher joined up.

“People are always telling me ‘thank you for your service.’ I usually say it was as good for me as it was for them,” Fancher said. He said for his part, he would rather see people respect the flag and appreciate “how good a country we’ve got, compared to a lot of other countries. You can go to any school you want to. If you want to be a mechanic, a nurse, a doctor, if you want to go to church – you have all those privileges … Our opportunities are unlimited here in the United States.

“We’re proud of what we did, and we’re proud of our country,” he added.

“We all want to see the country do better.

That’s why we enlisted … It hurts us a little bit deeper when we see it mishandled.

We get fired up about it.”

Following his military service, Fancher married his wife Charlene – they had known each other in high school – and he worked at Cooper Tire and Rubber Company in Tupelo, Miss. Today he owns Fancher’s Taxidermy and Deer Processing.

Continued from page 7 Brown has also had his struggles with PTSD. “There’s a lot of things you don’t ever forget,” he said. “Now that I’m old, I get the help I needed 50 years ago.”

While there’s still room for improvement when it comes to offering respect to Vietnam veterans, Brown said when he does receive thank yous and welcome homes now, they mean a lot. “What I appreciate more is when it comes from the younger generation,” he said. “I think they really mean it. He said not long ago, he was at Chick-Fil-A getting a meal for himself and his wife Amy. A young man in line insisted on paying for their meal. “It wasn’t the money. It was the thought behind it.”

Brown said despite the hardships, “it was a privilege and honor to serve.” In fact, he would gladly serve again today, even at his age, if his country needed him. “I’m a United States citizen. Born and raised here. This is your country, and you defend it … People take freedom for granted here in the United States – it’s just a given. But over there, it’s not.

“You always have respect for somebody who was willing to go – leave their job and family and everything behind – because it’s your obligation and duty,” he said. “I count it an honor to have been able to serve my country – even in Vietnam.”

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Thank you for your service,

ROBBIE RICHARDSON, U.S. ARMY NATIONAL GUARD

By Alison James alison.james@franklincountytimes.com

A

lthough many veterans can trace their military service back to their “fresh-out-of-high-school” days, Robbie Richardson has a different story. The 53-year-old Russellville native began his full-time military service in 2007 at the age of 37.

“I always regretted not doing it,” said Richardson, a 1988 graduate of Russellville High School. After jobs in sales and at the Russellville Fire Department, he decided to answer the call to serve his country with the Army National Guard. “They were about the only ones that would take me at the age of the 37,” Richardson joked.

Richardson went to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., for basic training. “It wasn’t

no better or worse than I thought it was going to be,” he said. “I was old enough to be the daddy of almost everybody I was in basic training with.” He continued with AIT at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, training to be a combat medic – a natural fit for skills he already had. “I’d become an EMT in 2005 when I was volunteering for the fire department,” Richardson said.

His prior training meant he was able to skip about six weeks of AIT. Richardson said although his initial plan was to continue working at the fire department while serving in the Guard, rumblings began that their unit might be activated and deployed. They got their orders to Afghanistan about six months later, in May 2009.

See RICHARDSON, Page 22

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Thank you for your service,

ERIC REASON, U.S. ARMY

By Alison James alison.james@franklincountytimes.com

H

is father was a colonel who served in Desert Storm and Vietnam. His uncle served in Korea.

His grandfather served in World War II. “I always knew that I wanted to fight for the freedoms of my future family.” As is the case for so many, for Eric Reason, joining the military in 1997 was continuing a family legacy of service.

His first stop was Fort Jackson, South Carolina, for basic training and then Fort Lee – recently renamed Fort Gregg-Adams – in Virginia for AIT. Next was heavy wheel vehicle operator school, through which he gained his H7 additional skill identifier. Then, the first duty station for the newly minted soldier was Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Ga., where he served with 110th Quartermaster fuel company, in the 360th Quartermaster Battalion. He was stationed there for three years. In addition to his fueling duties and flight line operations, Reason took college courses and had time occasionally to enjoy nearby attractions like Tybee Island, Georgia. “I’d break uniform – I’d wear my bathing suit underneath my uniform, and as soon as the closing formation would go off, me and my buddies would get in my truck and go out to the island and go on the beach.”

Reason said he enjoyed his time at Hunter Army Airfield, and he re-enlisted while there.

In 1999-2000 his battalion traveled to Egypt for Operation Bright Star, joint military exercises between the United States Armed Forces and Egyptian Armed Forces. “I was right there on the Mediterranean Sea, and my job was bringing fuel into the nation,” Reason explained. He also got to see the pyramids and said he enjoyed learning a little bit of the language.

After they returned home from Bright Star, they got orders to Korea. After two weeks of leave, they deployed to Korea. There was a ceasefire at the time, but Reason and his fellow soldiers trained with the South Korean Army and maintained the military’s presence in a show of strength at the edge of the Demilitarized Zone. He was just returning to Camp Casey from a stint at the DMZ and watching the news – when he saw the events of Sept. 11, 2001, televised. About half an hour later, his team was ordered to return to the DMZ to guard against North Korea potentially capitalizing on the tumultuous situation.

He remained in Korea until December 2001. Back in the states he was ordered to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, with the 101st Airborne Division. He earned his air assault wings while there. It was right around the time the U.S. officially went to war with Iraq that Reason re-enlisted again. “I thought, ‘I cannot with a clear conscience get out of the Army now, when we’re finally at war,’” he said. “If I had dropped out, I would have considered myself a coward.” He was part of the nation’s initial invasion into Iraq.

An early action stands out starkly in his mind.

“When we went into the country, we were nine vehicles wide, five miles long. I was driving a 60,000-gallon fuel truck,” he said. “We were under orders, ‘Do not stop for anything.’ And the Iraqis knew how much Americans valued life, so they would send women and children in front of the convoy to try to stop us. And we had no choice but to run over these people. That really messed me up for a while afterward. One of those little girls looked identical to my daughter later on in life, and I realized I was pushing her away.”

Iraq brought plenty of harrowing experiences, but Reason also found ways to have a positive impact. At one point he became the chaplain’s assistant, and he was also in charge of the Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers program for his unit, which aimed to enhance quality of life for single and unaccompanied soldiers by providing them with a support network and a range of opportunities for personal and professional development. He would organize trips and outings – to shops, to historic monasteries, to go swimming in Saddam Hussein’s abandoned pool at his palace. Reason said he also enjoyed having the opportunity to with some of the locals – although with some unsavory complications. “Throughout my career, 13 Muslims came to know Jesus,” he said. “Out of those 13, eight of them I saw later on a BBC news broadcast. I saw their

heads on the gates of Mosul when ISIS took over that area … I have mixed feelings about that. They died for their faith … I’m partly responsible for that.”

They were told they would be deployed for six months. It turned out to be a year.

Following that deployment, upon their return to the United States, Reason transitioned to a different role, in chemical warfare, in deference to a knee injury he sustained overseas. He also continued coordinating the BOSS program from stateside soldiers.

Reason got married, and he was soon posted to Alaska for three years. “I get assigned to this special duty assignment to run phone lines and internet cables throughout the base in Alaska,” Reason said. He’d been redesignated and promoted to supply sergeant by that point. It was around this time, Reason said, that he started to realize the Army wasn’t the same as it was when he first enlisted. Upstart young soldiers made him feel the uniform, the country, was being disrespected, and there didn’t seem to be a way to address it. “The Army is letting the young soldiers rule the roost. This is getting under my skin,” Reason said.

“It was that ‘kinder, gentler approach’ the Army went to. That’s when I realized it wasn’t the same.” He did enjoy the opportunity to lead a group of Wounded Warriors through the Arctic Challenge while in Alaska.

As his three years were almost up, he requested to be sent to Korea again, excited to share the country and culture with his family; his daughter’s asthma, however, precluded them from that move, and instead in 2012 the family was sent to Fort Bliss, Texas, where Reason finished his term of military service and retired as a staff sergeant in 2018 – although a year of that was spent in another deployment, to Afghanistan.

Traumatic brain injury and PTSD followed Reason out of the Army, as well as rare pattern double vision, but he hasn’t let that or anything else stop him from making his next steps. After a distressing divorce, Reason knew he needed a change of scene – which brought him to Alabama, through unconventional means. “I put a map of the United States on a dart, walked back 15 feet, and threw a dart. It landed in Alabama. I took a map of Alabama and did the same thing. It landed in Franklin County – and I let realtor.com do the rest.”

He lives a on a 20-acre piece in Phil Campbell, with woods and fields. “I love it here. I adore this place.”

He stays with busy with his animals – he’s had goats and a horse – and is a substitute teacher. He is also affiliated with the Republican Committee, and he is the commander of the county VFW post. His two sons come to visit each summer and every other holiday; he also has two older stepdaughters. He said he hopes to soon start working toward his master’s degree in social work.

“I learned a lot of life lessons (in the military),” Reason said. “I had good and bad experiences … and one thing that service taught me was not only a love for life, a love for learning and a love for new experiences but that my faith is unshakeable.

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Thank you for your service,

THOMAS RANDALL MILLER, U.S. ARMY

By Alison James alison.james@franklincountytimes.com

T

homas Randall Miller is 78 years, and his six years in the U.S. Army are more than 50 years in his rearview. That doesn’t make them any less memorable.

Miller, who moved to Russellville in October 2020 to be equidistant from his daughters, graduated from high school in 1963 and got into the trucking business. The draft was on the horizon. “I knew eventually it was going to happen, and ’68 was the worst year for the Vietnam year,” he said. “We knew it was coming.” Miller said he was willing to serve. “I was kind of looking forward to the Army,” he said. “My dad served in World War II in the Pacific Theater, and I’ve always appreciated the armed services and had no problem with going.”

When Miller got his letter, he reported to eight weeks of basic trainining at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. “After basic I was assigned to a research unit at Fort Knox, Kentucky, which is an armored division.” The achieved his E4 specialist rank. “This unit was instrumental in developing the Starlight scope that was being used in Vietnam.”

His deployment orders came in April 1969, and in May 1969 he flew to Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam.

“One of the hardest things, the day I left, was leaving my family,” Miller said. “My parents were about to fall apart over it. My mother was walking the floors. It was as hard on family members as it was on the soldier who went – that’s the way I look at it. They went with you in spirit, and every day I’m sure they wondered what was going on.”

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Richardson After a month at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin to prepare for mobilization, Richardson deployed to Forward Operating Base Shank, in the Logar Province of Afghanistan.

“I was the only medic for our company of 140 guys,” Richardson said. “My primary focus was my guys, but we had a forward surgical team there; when I wasn’t taking care of my guys, I was helping them out. We had about a hundred casualties a month coming in. People getting blown up, shot – all that kind of thing.”

Richardson said the first three months in Afghanistan were especially busy. In addition to his base duties, he sometimes traveled with convoys. As a medic in an engineering unit,, the 168th Engineering Company, 877th Battalion, his company was charged with construction – and reconstruction, like repairing bridges.

“The Taliban liked to sling rockets a lot at us at night,” Richardson remembers. “I’m not going to say we never got shot at, but none of our convoys got blown up that I was on, so that was fortunate.”

The deployment lasted about a year. “I learned a lot about being a medic,” Richardson said. “You’ve got four or five casualties coming in at one time, and it’s you. You learn a lot about medical triage and treatment … I was a career firefighter two, but I probably saw more casualties in a month in Afghanistan than I would have seen out of wrecks and stuff in a whole career in the fire department.”

Richardson was able to call home periodically to check on his wife Tawanna and his daughter, Christa, who was in her second year of college at the time. When their deployment was over, Richardson and his company flew into Birmingham, to a spectacular welcoming party. “It was good to be home.”

He was able to return to full-time firefighting was stationed at home, but he was deployed to Afghanistan again in 2014, this time as part of draw down operations. As the senior medic in the 877th Battalion, he ran the battalion aid station. Based at Bagram Air Field, Richardson served his own battalion and also provided aid to surrounding units that did not have aid stations.

Continued from page 11

While the Taliban was still on the offensive, Richardson said combat-based injuries on this deployment were minimal. He saw much more normal, everyday medical needs. He was tasked with managing 21 medics under his oversight and was also responsible for clinical quality control.

After six months in Afghanistan, Richardson and his unit returned home. He served as the assistant operations NCO for the battalion and the readiness NCO for Headquarters Company, but now, Sgt. 1st Class Richardson is senior human resources sergeant over 800 soldiers in the battalion. That puts him in charge of anything administrative, like awards, pay and processing benefits.

It’s a regular 9-5 job. “It’s good benefits, and the pay’s not bad at all,” said Richardson, who will serve at least four more years to have 20 years, or five and a half more to reach full active-duty retirement.

“It’s been good,” Richardson said of his military service. “It’s been tough on family at times, especially when you’re deployed.”

His daughter and husband MV Young live in the Birmingham area. They have one son, almost 3. In addition to spending time with family, Richardson stays busy with mission trips with Calvary Baptist Church, and he still sometimes works for the fire department on the weekends.

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1946

1948

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Randall Miller was assigned to serve in the 4th Infantry Division in the headquarters, chief of staff’s office, “which was a good assignment,” Miller noted. “There I was considered an administrative specialist … I was privy to a lot of information that was confidential.”

He was a super-fast typist and took on a range of office duties while assigned there – along with other responsibilities.

“The work week was seven days a week, and our office hours were 7 a.m. to 12 midnight. It was long days,” Miller said. “Besides working, we had to pull guard duty and walking guard. When you’re there, you do everything. It was one busy year.”

Miller said HQ ran everything pertaining to the battlefield. Officers would make decisions about what measures to undertake, what operations to assign next. That doesn’t mean they were far removed from the fighting.

“There were constant attacks from the north Vietnamese. They were always hitting us at night with mortar fire and rockets,” Miller added. “It was a mess, a lot of times.”

“One night they came through the razor wire, and it was a battle inside the camp that night,” Miller recalls. “They came on the air field, where all the choppers were, and they pulled the pin on explosive devices inside of satchels and threw them up in the choppers. It was just boom boom boom continually.”

Based at Camp Radcliff in An Khê, Vietnam, Miller had other duties, too. One was a standing order from his colonel to destroy all sensitive information if HQ was breached by enemy forces. A grenade sat atop the safe with all the important papers inside, and if the crucial moment came, it was Miller’s job to pull the pin – and then make a mad dash.

There was a close call one night when a Viet Cong force got too close for comfort. “They didn’t get to the headquarters, but it was a pretty hairy night,” Miller said. “I’m a fast runner, but I didn’t know how fast I had to be to get away from that explosion. When you lull that, you’d better be moving. You couldn’t hesitate by any means.

“That was probably the scariest mission I think we had.”

Miller had the range of experiences while Vietnam – he flew in Huey helicopters to hand deliver instructions or carry out other courier missions, and he manned a machine as part of chemical missions to flush out suspected enemy positions.

“The last mission I was on, the transmission in the helicopter went out. When the transmission starts failing, the blades don’t work very well,” Miller said.

That’s putting it lightly. Miller said they had to make an emergency landing near a fire base, where howitzers were set up. “That’s pretty scary, when you’re falling from 1,000 feet a little faster than you should be.” The tail hit. The nose hit. The copter skidded across the grass – and they all walked away.

For his heroism Miller treasures an array of

Continued from page 21

ment and the loss of their awards, including the Bronze Star, two Army sons, ending in divorce commendation medals, about a month after he got the Army Good Conduct home. “There was just too Medal, the overseas sermuch trauma,” he said. vice ribbon, the Vietnam “But that was life. That Service Medal and the was what we had to enVietnam Campaign Meddure.”

I, _____, do solemnly swear (or al. The uniform he wore He served a total two home from Vietnam still years of active duty and affirm) that I will support and dehangs in his closet. four years in the reserves, All in all, “It was a assigned to a medical unit fend the Constitution of the United year that had to be done. in St. Louis, Mo. In 1974, That war was a lot of pol“at that end of that fourStates against all enemies, foreign itics involved, but it was year time, I received my to stop the advancement honorable discharge.” and domestic; that I will bear true of communism,” MillHe met and married er said, adding, “and it faith and allegiance to the same; his current wife, Shirdidn’t work.” ley, and they have three and that I will obey the orders of After his time in Vietdaughters and now six nam was completed, Millgrandchildren. the President of the United States er’s colonel urged him Miller is retired from to re-enlist, promising a the transportation busiand the orders of the officers apre-enlistment bonus and ness and from general a promotion – but Millcommodities brokerage, pointed over me, according to reguer said he was ready to after turning the company return home to his wife. over to his oldest daughlations and the Uniform Code of The couple had lost their ter. Among his retirement Military Justice. So help me God. twin boys when a car pursuits, he has spent wreck forced his wife to time writing down his deliver at seven months – military memories for his right before he deployed children and grandchil– and both of them had grieving to do. “I needed to go dren. “Someday my little grandson’s going to say, ahead and leave active duty.”

‘What did Pop do during the war?’ Well, here it is.

Miller’s first marriage did not survive his deploy- Read it,” Miller said.

OATH OF ENLISTMENT

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We would be honored to assist you in prearranging your services or in your time of need.

Thank you for your service,

BILL JACKSON, U.S. ARMY

By Alison James alison.james@franklincountytimes.com

F

rom 1967-1970 Russellville’s Bill Jackson was among those to serve his country in the United States Army.

Although the Itawamba, Miss., county native had received two passes – “I was living and working in Illinois at the time, and I had gotten two exemptions because we working on military stuff,” – eventually he opted to take up the mantle of the armed forces. He went to see a recruiter in Waukegan, Ill. “I told him I would like to go into military police, and that’s what I signed up for,” said Jackson, who was 19 at the time.

“It wasn’t long until I got my papers to report to Chicago Induction Center.” On his arrival, he found a group outside the center protesting the war. Jackson said he didn’t let it phase him. “I just went on through the crowd and went into the induction center.”

Jackson was sworn in and put on a troop train to St. Louis, Mo. From there he took a bus to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., for basic training.

“When we got off that bus at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, the drill sergeant said, ‘This is one rule you don’t violate: There’s only one color here, and that’s Army green.’ And as far as I know, there was never a problem. Everybody knew what he was talking about,” Jackson said.

Other things, on the other hand, did pose problems – like the unforgiving summer heat, for one. “It was pretty tough. It was in July and August, and Missouri is pretty warm at that time,” Jackson remembers. “It was physical training and then basic infantry training.

“After the first or second day, I was having second thoughts,” Jackson admitted.

“But it didn’t matter; you were there.”

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Franklin County Commission

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Jackson Jackson’s eight-week AIT for military police training was at Fort Gordon, Georgia. It included driver’s training; he and several others were tasked with teaching some of their fellow soldiers. “A lot of the guys I was with didn’t even know how to drive, especially stick shifts,” Jackson said. Aside from the hands-on components, there was plenty of classroom study. “A lot of the classroom training entailed weapons training and also the military code of justice. We had to enforce it, so we had to know it.”

Jackson said he and others who were training to become MPs were largely held to a different standard than some of the other soldiers. “They were pretty strict on military policemen,” he said. “You were expected to adhere to certain rules – whether on or off duty.”

It wasn’t long before the training stage was over, and they were issued their green towels and green underclothes – their ticket to Vietnam. After 30 days leave, Jackson was flying out “Most everybody of eligible age was being drafted or going in the service of some sort – all the friends I grew up and ran around with,” Jackson said. “At that time they were sending body bags home every night on the news.” His parents “weren’t thrilled” he was deploying, “especially my mother, but it was just something you did.

You didn’t talk too much about it.”

From leave to Fort Dix, New Jersey, to Anchorage, Alaska, to Tokyo, Japan, to Bien Hoa Air Base, Vietnam. Jackson said he wasn’t really scared – but he’s not sure the full reality had sunk in. He was assigned to three different base camps during his year in Vietnam, during the Tet Offensive – which time period “played an important role in weakening U.S. public support for the war in Vietnam,” according to the Department of State Office of the Historian website.

Jackson and his fellow MPs “escorted convoys, mainly,” Jackson said.

“The military moves big amounts, and we would escort convoys, from Bearcat North of Saigon all the way to the Mekong Delta on the south end of the Peninsula.”

While at Dong Tam Base Camp, “we were mortared 80 days in a row,” Jackson said. “When the siren went off, if you were asleep, you’d hit the floor … You could hear them whistling when they came in. If you were working, you’d try to get into a bunker somewhere.”

Jackson remembers ships would come up the Mekong River bringing supplies and unload them there at Dong Tam. “There was nothing else around

Continued from page 25 us but jungle,” Jackson said. “We’d do patrols, and if you had base camp duty, there would be two. If you went outside the base, it had to be two or three.”

MP duties also included tasks like guarding some of the small POW camps – 12 hours on, 12 hours off, seven days a week. “We had one at one base camp who tried to escape – but he didn’t make it,” Jackson said.

He was also assigned to the Tan Canh base camp for a few months, also located in the Mekong Delta.

“It was really pretty town. It had a lot of these Buddhist pagodas and stuff in it,” Jackson recalls. “There was an airstrip there, too,” used for bringing in supplies and moving personnel around.

Jackson’s term of service, as for most, was one year. “After eight or nine months, you started looking forward to coming home,” he said. He still remembers the process of getting ready to come back home – turning in his weapon, going through check-out procedures, taking a Jeep to the airbase and boarding the plane. “I felt great. I was ready to leave.”

To Guam. To Hawaii. To California, where the all enjoyed a good meal and a haircut and were issued new uniforms.

“We were so excited to be home,” Jackson said. He caught a cab to the San Francisco airport and flew to O’Hare, Chicago.

“Walking through the terminal a O’Hare Airport, there was nothing friendly about it,” Jackson said. “People would yell at you and stuff like that. We didn’t get much news over in Vietnam – we didn’t know it was that bad. A lot of guys were totally not prepared for it. That was a lot of turmoil then.

“I just went on. I was just glad to get my feet on America soil and glad I didn’t have to go back.”

He had 30 days of leave and then had to report to Fort Lee, Virginia, to complete his term of service. “I was assigned to the 36th Civil Affairs Company,” Jackson said. There was little military policing to do, so he asked to be transferred to an MP company – which he was – for the remainder of his service.

“It was fine. It was more spit and polish – you had to be on your toes with your uniforms and stuff like that,” Jackson said.

“Vietnam was more lax because in the rainy season it was mud, and the rest of the time it was dust and dirt. You could not stay clean over there, the way you could here.

We stayed dirty over there.” Jackson said he enjoyed getting to be clean for a change.

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“ B Y FA I L I N G T O P R E PA R E , Y O U A R E P R E PA R I N G T O FA I L .”

— BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Did you know Franklin County is named after Benjamin Franklin? Franklin County is a great place to live, work, and play because of its best asset: the people. Together, we can prepare for tomorrow by continuing to better the quality of life for the residents and businesses in our communities.

Proudly serving you,

Senator Larry Stutts Funded by Stutts for Senate, P.O. Box 1014, Tuscumbia, AL 35674

PHOTO BY MARÍA CAMP Johnnie Pounders takes part in Veterans Day 2023 activities. He served as the grand marshal for this year’s parade in Russellville.

Thank you for your service,

JOHNNIE POUNDERS, U.S. NAVY, ARMY RESERVE AND AIR FORCE RESERVE

By Alison James alison.james@franklincountytimes.com

“I

would do it all again. I’m very patriotic. I believe in America.”

Johnnie Pounders, now 82, spent nearly 30 years serving in three branches of the United States Armed Forces: the Navy from 1959-1965, the Army Reserve from 1978-1985 and the Air Force Reserve from 1985-2001.

is a proud supporter of our military men and women and our

RHS JROTC program

Pounders and five buddies skipped high school one day to visit a recruiter and find out about volunteering for the U.S. Navy. Although the Navy recruiter wasn’t in the office at the time, he called them each the next day, and they all signed up. Pounders’ buddies left out June 8-9 – but Pounders backed out. He realized he just wasn’t ready. “I went to

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Pounders work and worked until they came home on boot camp leave – and that uniform just looked like it’d fit me,” Pounders said. “I saw how people treated them and how they had changed from teenage boys into young men.” Just that few weeks later, he was ready after all! He was sworn into the Navy not long after.

“It was the best thing I ever done,” Pounders said. “In 1959, if you lived in Alabama – which I was living in Missouri, but it was a similar scenario – no good company would hire you until you had satisfied the draft.” Through his military service, he got a good education, saw the world – and said he doesn’t regret a day of it.

Pounders took off to swear in and from there to boot camp without even telling his parents. “I was afraid they would talk me out of it,” Pounders said. “That was just something mothers did. Mothers are still trying to talk their sons out of going into the military.” He wrote home from boot camp in San Diego to let them know where he was; the Navy required it.

“Boot camp changed me. Everything Mother and Dad had taught me from the time I was old enough to know anything until I left home, except family and religion, boot camp took away from me,” Pounders said. “They broke you down a phase at a time for about five weeks, and then they started building you back up. When you left boot camp, you were a changed individual.”

Pounders said he “had a fair idea of what was going to happen” at boot camp from visiting his friend’s brother at Fort Leonard Wood. “There was a lot of marching, and a lot of hollering, and a lot of discipline if you didn’t do what you were supposed to do,” Pounders said. “It was alright. I had been hollered

Continued from page 27 at all my life. The discipline did not bother me. I grew up knowing what the end results would be if you didn’t obey the rules.”

After boot camp was a 15-day leave, then aviation electrician school was in Florida. Based on testing, the Navy had determined his aptitude – “I scored real well” – which landed him at the aviation electrician school. That was six months of training, after which he returned to San Diego to the Naval Air Station on North Island, tailhook squadron. He was then assigned to the anti-submarine squadron 21 – just in time to ship out to sea for two weeks.

That was only the beginning.

“Within four or five months, we went on a six-month Western Pacific cruise,” Pounders said. “We went to Hawaii, Okinawa, Guam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Japan. We were training all that time.

And then back to the United States.”

Pounders got selected to be an air crewman, so when they got back to states, he went to survival school – in desert, water and mountain locales.

“Most of my time after I got on air crew was flying. I flew mostly at night,” Pounders explained. Briefing, flight and debriefing would be about an eight-hour ordeal. He served as the radar navigator on a crew of four – which also included a pilot, copilot and sonar operator – on an S2F Submarine Tracker. “They were really good people. They were friends. Once we left that flight deck and we were airborne, we were buddies,” Pounders said.

“Once we caught the hook coming in, we were sailors, and they were officers. But we got real close, and we trusted them, and they trusted you.

“We won the outstanding air crew award two or three different times.”

As the Vietnam war started heating up, Pounders and his squadron headed to Okinawa to continuing training. They left the ship in Okinawa in July 1963 and stayed in Okinawa a week before flying to Hawaii for two days and then back to California from there, to Treasure Island Naval Base for discharge. They spent a week there processing out. “Then I came home,” Pounders said. His obligation was complete in August 1963, but he spent two more years in the reserves.

“I had thought about going to college and was planning on it until I got home. I got to looking at what it was going to cost and what money I had, and it didn’t add up,” Pounders said. His parents were still living in Missouri, so he moved home and got a job – first at the grocery store and then a hardwood flooring mill.

He met his wife Joann and soon moved to Washington state with his new wife, following the bride’s parents. “My fatherin-law had lived out there, and there were a lot of relatives out there,” he explained.

They lived there from April through September 1964, but Pounders said it never really felt like home. They returned to Missouri and then back to Alabama, where Pounders parents had returned. In Shelby County he got a job in the mines – a job that eventually sent him back to Missouri, then back to Alabama, to Belgreen. Getting out of the mine business after a concussion, the family moved back to Missouri and bought a truck stop.

He hauled steel on an 18-wheeler. He worked at the TVA. Eventually he found his way back to the military when buddies encouraged him to join the Army Reserve, to get his military benefits in place for retirement. He served as a correctional guard at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and then as a mechanic in the motor pool.

Jackson As his military commitment began to draw near its end, Jackson – and fellow MPs – started to be recruited and receive job offers from local police departments. He accepted a job in Rico County, Virginia, and was granted a 90-day early release from the military. “By that time I’d made sergeant, so it wasn’t too hard to get a job,” Jackson said.

He went through 12 weeks at the police academy, and during his employment in Virginia, he met and married his wife Denna.

In 1975 the couple moved to Franklin County, Alabama. Jackson had lived in Phil Campbell for a while during his school years and graduated from Phil Campbell High School. He’d visited on vacation and felt there were more opportunities here. Denna was reluctant at first, but they made the move.

From there Jackson worked stints at the Franklin

In 1985 he transferred to the Air Force Reserves, rising from an army sergeant to an air force staff sergeant and then master sergeant. He served as a heavy equipment operator. His unit went to Grenada in 19921993 to help build a hospital, and later an officer gave him the opportunity to move from heavy equipment to another role, which is when he promoted to first sergeant for a new commanding officer “one of the better jobs I had in the military. I did that for four or five years.” When his CO changed, Pounders went into the office one day to find his position posted – and himself promoted to E8, electrical superintendent. “It was for the best, but I would have been happy to have retired as first sergeant,” he noted.

He retired at age 60 on June 28, 2001.

Today he provides care for his son, Billy, who is blind and has autism. His other children are Vicki Hall, who lives in Tuscumbia, and Kimberly Allen, who lives in Mountain Star. He has one grandchild, Katelyn Little, a science teacher at Russellville High School.

He is active in local veteran activities.

He served as the grand marshal of the Russellville Veterans Day Parade in 2023.

“Veterans are getting more respect now than they did three or four years ago. Ten years ago, they didn’t get any respect,” Pounders said. “It’s a changing world. The day the United States stopped the draft and went to an all-volunteer source, people lost their respect.

“Most people in today’s society don’t even respect themselves, and if you don’t respect yourself, there’s no way in the world you’re going to respect someone else,” Pounders added. He credits the military for giving him a unique look at the human struggle. “I just think I’m a lot better person than I probably would have been.”

“It’s been a real good life.”

Continued from page 26 County Sheriff’s Office and Ford-Grissom Motor Company before joining Citizens Bank in 1982. He retired from the bank’s successor, CB&S Bank, after 30 years with the company.

The Jacksons have one daughter, Amy. She and husband Brian Bragwell have one daughter, Emma Claire, 23.

In Jackson’s retirement he’s enjoyed his time building antique cars. He also used to bass fish a lot, even traveling around the nation to enjoy the best spots.

When Jackson reflects on his military service, “I think it instilled some discipline. You still remember certain things you were taught,” he said.

He praised this area for its support of veterans.

“We’ve got a lot of support out of the community, especially when we have a veterans program,” he said. “Russellville is a good veterans town.”

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Thank you for your service,

TROY OLIVER, U.S. ARMY NATIONAL GUARD

By Alison James alison.james@franklincountytimes.com

W

hen Russellville’s Troy Oliver, a retired major general for the U.S. Army National Guard, speaks about being a veteran, he often points to Bible scripture.

“When I talk about our soldiers, I always quote John 15:13 from the Bible that says, ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,’” said Oliver at a Memorial Day ceremony one year, as reported in the Franklin County Times. “Those of us that have been through wars don’t just remember our fallen soldiers who went to war and didn’t come home – we also remember the ones who have died because of the effects of war and were lost after they made it home. And we don’t just remember these fallen soldiers on Memorial Day and Veterans Day. There is hardly a week that goes by where I don’t think about the sacrifices they made for our country.”

Oliver, now 80, began his 34-year military career at Fort Benning, Georgia, in 1965 – although it actually started before that.

Oliver graduated from Belgreen High School in 1961 and opted to continue his education at Florence State College, which is now known as the University of North Alabama. At that time, two years of ROTC was required for college students; the situation in Vietnam was heating up, and all able-bodied American men had to be prepared to defend their country. Oliver, however, opted to continue ROTC into his junior and senior years at FSC, with an eye toward enlisting after graduation. His degree was in accounting, economics and military science.

“I loved learning about the military,” Oliver said. “I had always enjoyed reading about great generals of the past. I was intrigued by how they operated, how they thought and how they led.”

He would soon be living his own story of military operation and leadership.

College graduation ended with Oliver and fellow senior ROTC students being sworn in as second lieutenants. The 22-year-old went through officers basic training – “it was intense training” – to

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Oliver become an infantry officer, as well as airborne school for parachute training, and then he began training recruits.

“I enjoyed the military – the discipline,” Oliver explained. Of course, that particularly value was nothing new but rather something he’d been learning all his life working with his father on the family farm – an agricultural legacy Oliver would ultimately continue, operating his own 500-acre cattle farm to this day.

Oliver was slated to deploy to Vietnam in August 1966, but there was something he had to do first: marry his Brenda, who had just graduated high school.

The two tied the knot just a week before he shipped out. “That’s what we wanted to do, and that’s what we did,” Oliver said. Of course, that meant the honeymoon had to wait – but six months later, when Oliver had a week of R&R, Brenda got a plane for the first time and flew to meet him in Hawaii to finally celebrate their marriage.

Deployed with the 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, Oliver landed in Vietnam as an infantry platoon leader, with 44 men in his charge.

The battalion was based in Lai Khe, at the site of a Michelin rubber plantation.

Oliver – known as “Hillbilly 6” by call sign – and his fellow soldiers would conduction daytime patrols and night time ambushes, in nearly constant combat with the enemy. They were issued the new-at-that-time M16 rifles – which did not please Oliver. “We had a lot of problems with them,” Oliver explained. The damp and dirt would get into the weapons and cause them to jam. Oliver was able to outfit his platoon with three M60 machine guns – a much more reliable option if push came to shove.

Oliver said he and his men were often in immediate danger. Several of his friends died while they were deplored; but although that was a gut punch – “You live them and sleep with them out in the jungle, and you ambush with them, and you get pretty close” – Oliver said he had to get through it by focusing on his men and their mission. “Your mission drives you.”

Oliver said although he and his platoon captured and killed many enemy soldiers, they were never caught in an ambition themselves. He feels he had something of a sixth sense when it came to avoiding an enemy ambush.

Oliver was in Vietnam through August 1967. He was promoted to first lieutenant while there.

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U.S. ARMY SOLDIER’S CREED I am an American Soldier.

I am a warrior and a member of a team.

I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.

I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert, and I am a professional.

I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy, the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am an American Soldier.

“I wouldn’t take anything for it,” he said. “I didn’t want to live saying that I didn’t go, and I’m proud, even though it was tough and I liked to got killed several times. The good Lord was with me, and I had a good wife to support me.”

In one of those almost-killed scenarios, shrapnel punctured and went through Oliver’s helmet while under enemy fire. He still “can’t figure how I got out of that one alive.”

Oliver said he experienced a lot of anxiety when he came home. He dove into a CPA job to give himself something to focus on, and he soon had an additional way to channel his energy: National Guard Commander Jimmy Byars needed a lieutenant, and Oliver was the man for the job.

From 1968, Oliver held several positions in the Alabama Army National Guard, rising to greater and greater levels of responsibility: • March 1968 to September 1971: maintenance and supply platoon leader, 186th Engineer Company, Russellville • September 1971 to February 1972: commander, 186th Engineer Company, Russellville • February 1972 to October 1976: commander, Company C, 115th Signal Battalion, Russellville • October 1976 to April 1978, assistant S-3, 115th Signal Battalion, Florence • April 1978 to June 1979, telephone digital communications officer, 142nd Signal Brigade, Decatur

• June 1979 to September 1981, S-3/S-2, 115th Signal Battalion, Florence • September 1981 to January 1984, executive officer, 115th Signal Battalion, Florence • January to October 1984, material management officer, 167th Support Command, Birmingham • October 1984 to August 1988, commander, 115th Signal Battalion, Florence • August 1988 to April 1989, S-4, 142nd Signal Brigade, Decatur • April 1989 to December 1994, deputy commander, 142nd Signal Brigade, Decatur • January 1995-2000, commander, 142nd Signal Brigade, Decatur The 142nd was the largest signal brigade in the U.S. Army, providing communication to more than 125,000 soldiers.

Oliver saw steady promotions throughout his military career, rising from lieutenant to captain to major to lieutenant colonel, colonel, brigadier general and finally major general.

His numerous military decorations include the Purple Heart, Army Commendation and Army Achievement medals, Bronze Star with valor, Combat Infantry Badge, Legion of Merit and Meritorious Service Medal, along with the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Bronze Star, Honor Medal 1st class and Campaign Medal.

Through it all he managed to balance his family, his family and his manufactured housing business with his rigorous National Guard duties.

He said he cherishes his National Guard memories, especially toward the end. “You wouldn’t believe how much fun I had as a general – getting things done and working with the corps commander out there,” Oliver said.

Oliver retired in 2000, and since then he has stayed busy with farm and family. He is a member of the Franklin County Cattlemen’s Association, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5184 and American Legion Post 64. The family attends Russellville First Baptist Church. He and Brenda have four children, Sharon, Jonathan, Laura Beth and Mason, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Thirty-four years in the military will leave their mark on a person. Oliver sums it up by remembering the credo of the 1st Infantry Division. “Our motto and the vision is no mission too difficult, no sacrifice too great, and duty first. We taught that, and we lived it.”

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Thank you for your service,

CRAIG BULLION, U.S. Marine Corps

By Alison James alison.james@franklincountytimes.com

I

t took making a couple wrong turns for Craig Bullion to find his way to the military path. The 36-year-old Russellville man served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2009-2013, and he cites it as one of the best decisions he’s ever made – but it wasn’t an automatic choice in his life.

Bullion played college baseball and had a stint as a Franklin County Sheriff’s Office corrections officer, but something wasn’t clicking. He said he had considered enlisting before and even taken some steps that direction, but it hadn’t seemed to come together. A pivotal moment, however, cemented his decision to join up: watching his younger brother graduate from boot camp. “I just knew,” Bullion said. From that moment, he was Marine Corps-bound.

Someone who wasn’t too keen on that decision was Bullion’s mother. He said she was one of the biggest obstacles to him enlisting. “That feeling for her never left until it was done and there was nothing she could do about it,” Bullion said.

She tried to prevent Bullion, as well as his younger brother Hunter Hulsey, from enlisting with great fervor – to the point that she intimidated recruiters away from the house by sitting on the front porch with a shotgun.

But Bullion said when she saw the love her sons had for the Marine Corps, and their determination, she was the biggest supporter they had.

After some paperwork hold-ups with his enlistment process, Bullion’s first stop in his military journey was his own boot camp experience. “It was a definitely a shock,” he said.

One notable element was the younger age of most of his fellow recruits, many of them straight out of high school. “I had taken other avenues in life early on … So here I am, showing up as an ‘old guy’ at 21, so it definitely was little bit of a challenge.”

In the overall analysis, though, age turned out not to be that much of a dividing factor. “Everybody gets treated exactly the same, and they’re going to break you down physically and mentally to be able to mold you and make into the Marine they need you to be, not who you think you are,” Bullion said.

The 2005 Russellville grad spent 13 weeks learning the ropes at Parris Island, S.C. He said it was the little things that helped make the challenging experience easier to bear: the Spanish moss reminding him of his mother, or some good music – especially George Strait’s “Troubador” – playing on the radio during the bus ride to church on a Sunday morning.

Marine Combat Training followed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, with in-depth instruction on different weapons systems and operational strategies. At Camp Geiger, a Lejeune satellite facility, Bullion learned more of the specifics of serving in embarkation logistics – a role he said his recruiter talked him into. As an embarkation specialist, Bullion’s role was to prepare supplies and equipment for transportation – from making load plans, to inventorying materials, down to every minute detail to ensure smooth sailing from departure to arrival.

Bullion was assigned to HMLA 467, a helicopter squadron, at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina.

He had to dive right in to his assignment, managing embar-

kation logistics with four Marines under his charge.

“Usually, the job I was doing there would be a Marine who would have been there for three to five years,” Bullion said – but as senior personnel were tapped for this mission or that one, Bullion was ultimately left to essentially serve as a staffing CO, despite his youth. He didn’t let it bother him. “At that point in my life and in my career, I had drive, I had discipline, and I had the confidence,” Bullion said. “I was OK with being that guy.”

At one point Bullion’s unit was preparing to deploy to Afghanistan. It was Bullion’s time to shine as embarkation specialist, and Bullion coordinates packing for a deployment to Guatemala. he said he spent long hours working on the logistics to prepare to ship out. About 12 hours out, however, their deployment was canceled; the squadron’s three-blade copters were not as agile as the newer four-blade models, and the decision was made to send a different group instead.

“It was a gut shock. Everybody was a little upset about it,” said Bullion. “When I enlisted, I had full knowledge and hopes that I was going to get deployed and was going to go fight for my country. That’s what I wanted to do.” They would have been in Helmand province for an anticipated nine months.

Although he missed his chance at combat, Bullion did get to put his embarkation logistics skills to work in the summer of 2012 with a deployment to Guatemala. His squadron took part in an still-ongoing anti-drug trafficking operation, called Operation Martillo, which began in January 2012. “It was the first named operation since Operation Enduring Freedom,” said Bullion – which began in 2001.

Getting ready to deploy to Guatemala was a major operation in and of itself. The three-month trip involved loading up C5 and C17 cargo planes with 75 tons of equipment, supplies and personnel. Bullion had to plan for every group’s necessary supplies and plan out the best way to pack it all – includ- return to the states. Bullion said he earned the Navy and Maing the five helicopters they broke down for transport. “You rine Corps Achievement Medal for his efforts in Guatemala.

When he tour of duty was coming to an end, Bullion had have to develop a load plan, and if you don’t have that load plan set up correctly, you’re going to have that plane lopsid- some personal life things going on that drove his decision not ed,” Bullion said. It took months of planning and preparation to re-enlist. He said that’s one of his biggest regrets in life. “I fell in love with everything about it,” he said. “There’s nothing to coordinate.

In cooperation with the Coast Guard, the Marines flew I’m more proud of than that I earned the title of Marine and night flights to try to locate vessels that were moving drugs served my country.”

After serving as a Russellville Police deputy for eight across the Guatemalan border, monitoring coastline armed years, Bullion recently took a job with the Russellville Electric with packets of intel to guide their surveillance.

Getting all their supplies and equipment back home was Department, a job which he said is less stressful and gives him a little easier, given it followed a similar plan as the outgoing more time with family.

Bullion and his wife Angela have two daughters and a son, trip, but one added factor was making sure all U.S. property was clean of any foreign contaminants that might impede their ages 21, 17 and 12, and one grandchild.

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Monuments

We salute our military heroes!

Continued from page 13

RED BAY, ALABAMA Incorporated in 1907

A Friendly City on a Progressive Path

Red Bay Fitness Court

Red Bay Recreation Center

Red Bay Water Park

Red Bay Museum

Bay Tree Park

Fred Bostick, Jr. Memorial Stadium

City Hall - 203 4th Ave. SE • 256-356-4473 www.cityofredbay.org