April 3, 2016

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Experience the thrill of bagging a turkey in the rain D4 PANORAMA

A look ahead at the 9th annual Festival on the Avenue C1 SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2016

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Sgt. Holladay returns home Charlton Holladay was an expert archer.

BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com Charlton Holladay and a friend pushed a rowboat out into the Pee Dee River in November of 1941. They spent the next several weeks drifting downstream, living off the land. Upon reaching the coast, they learned Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor and their nation was at war. According to his nephew Jack Holladay, he knew what he had to do. Charlton Holladay became a U.S. Marine. At 11 a.m. Monday, the remains of Sgt. John Charlton Holladay will be buried with full military honors at Florence National Cemetery. It

PHOTO PROVIDED

would have been his 104th birthday. In July 1943, Holladay, already a Guadalcanal veteran, was assigned to Company B, 1st Marine Raider Battalion, 1st Marine Raider Regiment, which fought in a joint U.S. Army-U.S. Marine Corps battle against Japanese positions at Bairoko Harbor as part of the invasion of New Georgia HOLLADAY Island, British Solomon Islands. During the battle against a well-prepared Japanese defense, 34 U.S. service members were killed, including Holladay. Although there is little official information on

Sumter connection leads F-22 team

the circumstances, family members say he was felled by a sniper. In the days following the battle, U.S. patrols returned to the battlefield to recover their dead, according to U.S. Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Several Marines were buried in graves in the area, but there was no record of Holladay’s remains being recovered. In late 1947, extensive searches were made to recover human remains. No remains were found, and Sgt. Holladay was declared non-recoverable. In 2015, the DDPA took custody of

SEE HOME, PAGE A9

BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com It’s a small world when you can cruise at Mach 2. It’s also a small world when you become the U.S Air Force’s demonstration pilot for the world’s most advanced fighter jet and you find out the superintendent just hired to manage your crew went to the same high school that you did. Maj. Daniel Dickinson is the F-22 Raptor Aerial Demonstration Team commander and pilot and is responsible for demonstrating the F-22 for more than 10 million spectators around the world. He is also a 2001 graduate of Sumter High School. Dickinson’s “right-hand man,” as the pilot called him, is Master Sgt. Delmont Benjamin, who manages the crew that makes sure the aircraft is safe and reliable while the demonstration team is on the road. Benjamin also manages travel arrangements and books the hotels. Benjamin graduated from Sumter High School in 1999. The two did not know each other but discovered their common background after Benjamin joined the team. “I came in and interviewed, and we were talking about it that day,” Benjamin said. Being on the F-22 Demonstration Team means you are the “best of the best.” Which is what the F-22 is. An Air Force fact sheet says the F-22 represents an “exponential leap in warfighting capabilities,” and is “designed to project dominance rapidly and at great distances.” Its two Pratt and Whitney engines produce more thrust than any other fighter jet, and it can cruise at more than Mach 1.5 without using an afterburner, a capability known as “supercruise.” It is lethal in both air-to-air and air-to-grounds situations. “The F-22 cannot be matched by any known or projected fighter aircraft,” the fact sheet says. It wasn’t easy for Dickinson to become the demonstration pilot for the aircraft.

SEE F-22, PAGE A11 The F-22 Raptor was designed to be the dominant aircraft in any encounter. PHOTO PROVIDED

Cancer survivor counts her blessings BY RICK CARPENTER rick@theitem.com Jane Collins wakes up with a smile every morning and hits the ground running. The five-time cancer survivor views each day as an opportunity to enjoy life and spread joy to other people’s lives. “Cancer has made me appreciate and understand that life is a gift,” Collins said. “Every day is an opportunity that you’ve been given to do something special for

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someone. “I rejoice in the fact that I’m still here.” Twenty years ago, doctors diagnosed her with leiomyosaracoma, an aggressive soft tissue sarcoma derived from smooth muscle cells typically of uterine, gastrointestinal or soft tissue origin. Doctors at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston told Collins the only treatment for the disease includ-

Taylor Mitchum and Jane Collins walk the survivors’ lap together at the Sumter Relay For Life in 2015.

ed surgery to remove affected areas. They told her they’d remove “stuff” from her until they ran out of stuff to remove. On her third visit, doctors told her the cancer had returned, but they wouldn’t perform any more surgery. Thinking they had reached the end of “stuff” to remove, she panicked. But doctors told her she could be a candidate for an experimental form of chemotherapy.

PHOTO PROVIDED

SEE BLESSINGS, PAGE A8

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DEATHS, A11

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Gerald T. Cabbagestalk Roberta W. Johnson Neomia Mouzon M. Scott Bean Jr. Charles Johnson Mary Prescott Marcus Garland

WEATHER, A12

INSIDE

SUNNY AND NICE

5 SECTIONS, 36 PAGES VOL. 121, NO. 144

Lots of sun and a little cooler today with no chance of rain. Tonight, clear and chilly with slight chance of rain. HIGH 65, LOW 43

Business D1 Classifieds D5 Comics E1

Opinion A10 Panorama C1 Television E3


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April 3, 2016 by The Sumter Item - Issuu