August 7, 2016

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John Riley relates life in Sumter in program

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Breathing easy Does exposure to cows, farm animals keep Amish children from having asthma? A3 SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 7, 2016

IN SPORTS: USC basketball makes offer to Crestwood’s Morant

She found $300 at an ATM; Here’s what she did with it

NATIONAL PURPLE HEART DAY

Vets share their stories Sumter’s heroes relate harrowing tales of conflict

BY ANDREW DYS The Rock Hill Herald

BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY konstantin@theitem.com In honor of today’s National Purple Heart Day, six members of the Sumter chapter of an organization consisting of recipients of the Purple Heart shared their stories of how they sustained wounds that led them to receiving the honor. National Purple Heart Day is an observance that commemorates the creation of the Purple Heart Medal in 1782, a U.S. military decoration awarded to those wounded or killed while serving in combat. The Gen. George L. Mabry Jr. Chapter 817 Military Order of the Purple Heart consists of 28 veterans from the Sumter community who are Purple Heart recipients. The chapter, a nonprofit organization, consists of primarily Vietnam War veterans, said Dave Nesbitt, chapter commander. The chapter was founded in 2011, and about 90 percent of its funds raised go back to supporting veterans, local military personnel and their families, Nesbitt said. The six veterans who were interviewed by The Sumter Item all served in the Vietnam War. They are: Don Kellum, Air Force; Dave Nesbitt, Army; Jamie O’Neal, Army; Ronald Harvin, Army; Leroy Thompson Jr., Marine Corps; and Willie Washington, Army.

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Nesbitt took shrapnel to his legs. One of his legs was twisted and was pulled under his back due to the explosion. The leg was saved, he said, but his knee sustained permanent damage. O’Neal was assigned to protect an Air Force base when a rocket-propelled grenade hit his squad. “I was at a machine gun position, lying down, when

ROCK HILL — The car pulled out of the ATM lane next to the one Becky Wright was waiting in after work. The Winthrop University graduate needed to make a deposit. Like everybody in life — and apparently that car a lane over — she was in a hurry. So, after a recent Wednesday of helping people as a social worker at the York County Council on Aging, Wright backed up and pulled into the empty lane of the next ATM at a Wells Fargo in Rock Hill. There, she got the shock of her life. “There was a whole lot of bills,” Wright said. “I counted it, and it was $300. To me — and just about anybody I know — $300 is a lot of money.” The money was right there in the ATM slot, for the taking. Three hundred bucks pays a student loan for a month. It would put a dent in any mortgage. Put 15 twenties in a purse, when it is 99 degrees in Rock Hill in late July, and the sand and ocean and beach begin calling. Not for Becky Wright. “Somebody out there might not be able to eat without that money, might lose a house or car,” Wright said. “They might have kids.” Wright immediately called the Rock Hill police. She pulled over in the lot and called her coworker, Chassidy James, too. She waited a few minutes for the officer, the money in her lap. The bills were crisp and fresh. “Someone’s life,” is how Wright described the money. “Somebody worked for that money. They just forgot.” Wright told the officer that she didn’t get a good look at

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SEE HONEST, PAGE A6

SUMTER ITEM FILE PHOTO

Ronald Harvin, left, and Jamie O’Neal salute the flag during the 50th anniversary of the U.S. entry into the Vietnam War in May 2015. Kellum, a retired Air Force colonel and pilot, received the Purple Heart after his plane was shot down during a reconnaissance mission in Vietnam. His RF-4 plane was hit in enemy territory and he and his co-pilot had to eject, landing in a middle of a North Vietnamese field. “Our plane was torn apart,” he said. “Luckily, we were rescued soon after parachuting and making

landfall.” Kellum received a head injury and back injury from the event. Nesbitt received the Purple Heart in Vietnam after a mortar round hit his squad during a search operation. “I was setting up an M60 machine gun when I heard an explosion to the left of me,” he said. “I was tossed dozens of feet away due to the impact of the explosion.”

United Ministries health clinic now accepting students BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com The Sumter United Ministries Health Clinic has begun accepting full-time students. According to Jaqueline Butler, the health clinic director, the clinic was originally intended for working people who couldn’t afford to have their own health insurance, but the clinic directors decided to offer the service to students, as well.

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“You have to be full time, not just a student, but full time because you have to be working toward something,” she said. Students who wish to use the clinic will still have to meet the household income requirements, she said, which is at or below two times the Federal Poverty Level. The FPL is $11,880 annual income for individuals, $16,020 for a family of two, $20,160 for a family of three and $24,300 for a family of four, ac-

cording to www.healthcare.gov. Butler said students do not have to meet the clinic’s work requirement. She said students have to have proof they are students. “Basically, that’s the information from the registrar’s office showing they are currently enrolled and that they are carrying a minimum of 12 semester hours,” she said. In addition, students must be residents of Sumter County.

DEATHS, A9 Donald G. Sweeney Brenda S. Woodard John Louis Eason III Doris Y. Gibson

Betty W. Pearson Diane Jackson Willie J. Heriot Mary E. Moses Pamela Benjamin

Butler said they have not yet enrolled any students, but at least one student had scheduled an intake interview. Students have to be between the ages of 19 and 24, she said. “If you are still living with your parents, you have to have the household information,” Butler said. “You can’t have any form of health insurance, even if you are a student,

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WEATHER, A10

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MORE STORMS POSSIBLE

5 SECTIONS, 34 PAGES VOL. 121, NO. 248

Still cooler today but good chance of storms today and heading into evening; tonight, warm and rainy. HIGH 92, LOW 74

Business D1 Classifieds D4 Comics E1 Opinion A8

Outdoors D3 Stocks D2 Television E3

Back from vacation. Back to school. Back to basics. We go where you go. Sumter: 803.469.0156 Manning: 803.433.4451 bankofclarendon.com ."//*/( t 46.5&3 t 4"/5&& t 46..&350/ t 8:#00


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August 7, 2016 by The Sumter Item - Issuu