February 24, 2013

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INSIDE • Golf tourney, auction to benefit college students

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NASCAR HAVOC

• New sawmill plan worries S.C. groups

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VOL. 118, NO. 108 WWW.THEITEM.COM

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2013 | SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA

Report: Car crashes into stands, injures 30

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Lincoln High Alumni Association to host open house BY IVY MOORE ivym@theitem.com The Lincoln High School Alumni Association will host an open house on Thursday to celebrate its new History and Archives Room. The public is invited to attend the opening reception from 4 to 7 p.m. on the second floor of the Lincoln Trinity Center at 22 Council St. Jim Felder, a Lincoln alumni and coordinator

for the event, said the room is located in the former Lincoln library, “and we have had assistance from three alumnae who went on to become librarians: Rosa Mae Twiggs, Charletta Pickering Felder and Carolyn DesChamps James. “We wanted to have the open house during Black History Month. We also encourage new members to join the alumni association and

current members to renew during this event.” The archives are divided into four sections, or corners — military, political, sports and education (Lincoln principals and administrators). Felder said the military corner comprises information and materials on alumni who went on to have distinguished military careers, including Sumter’s three Tuskegee SEE LINCOLN, PAGE A9

PHOTO PROVIDED

Lincoln High School is seen during the early 1950s. The school closed in 1969, having graduated many distinguished citizens, several of whom are featured in the Archives and History Room of the building, now called the Lincoln Trinity Center.

Black history event spotlights trips to Haiti

Back in ’Nam

BY JAMIE H. WILSON Special to The Item

2 Vietnam War veterans reunite after 45 years

‘The way they live … it’s rough over there. We really shouldn’t take for granted what we have here.’

BY ROB COTTINGHAM rcottingham@theitem.com For most of us, getting older means getting wiser and more mature, whether we want it or not. With that maturity comes a calmer poise hard to come by in younger people. But a couple weeks ago, despite being in his early ‘60s, Johnny Williams was as giddy as a child at Christmas. His knees bounced anxiously as he shifted his feet and fidgeted with his fingers, checking the time every other minute as his wife, Hattie, vacuumed the living room. After nearly half a century, Williams was about to see an old friend. “He called me just a few minutes ago,” Williams said, his voice amplified. “Told me he was outside of Columbia, so he should be here in just a little bit.” Williams is a Vietnam War veteran who served in the Army from 1967 to 1971, volunteering for service at the age of 18. He served those four years as part of the 101st Airborne, 2nd Platoon, most of which time he spent touring heavily embattled areas in Vietnam.

The impoverished country of Haiti holds a special place in Richard Boisvert’s heart. It is the country from which he adopted his two sons. It is also where he recently spent several days with others on a mission trip to help supply aid to a children’s village in Espwa, Haiti. Boisvert was part of a group that went to a village just for children, where orphans or children in similar situations are sent. The group helped paint a structure that would be able to withstand earthquakes and hurricanes. Boisvert’s first trip to Haiti was in 1989 when he adopted his youngest son, Lionel. He returned in Thanksgiving 2012 to reconnect with Lionel’s biological mother. “I wanted to thank her for her sacrifice,” he said. Roughly 100 adult education students heard to Boisvert’s stories about his journeys to the Third World country at a recent lecture at the Sumter County Adult Education building. The one-hour seminar focused on information about Haiti and even spurred some students into a discussion of how they could help the Haitian people. Boisvert, who directs the diploma program at the school, painted a picture very different from average American life. Poverty, lack of health care and food, and a high population density have created a hard life for many of the Haitian people. The Central American country is roughly the size of Maryland and has approximately 10 million people. Without a sanitation infrastructure, disease is rampant, and the life expectancy is much lower than that in the United States. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The average wage is $2 a day, Boisvert said.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION AND PHOTOS BY ROB COTTINGHAM / THE ITEM

ABOVE: Johnny Williams, right, laughs as he embraces his friend, Jack McDonald, recently as the two men reunited for the first time in 45 years in the parking lot of Golden Corral. BELOW: Johnny “Otis” Williams Jr., left, listens as Johnny Williams Sr. and Jack McDonald share their wartime stories during lunch.

“I got tired of waiting on the draft, so I figured I’d remove all the anxiety and just went ahead and joined,” he said with a grin. “I was part of Charlie Company — the Screamin’ Eagles, they called us.” Forty-five years is a long time to remember

any one particular day, but for Williams, it was just yesterday. “Some things, you just never forget,” Williams said. “And that day was one of those times.” Of all the experiences of his multiple tours, the most ominous day in his memory remains fresh in

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his mind. March 20, 1968. “We saw quite a bit of action while I was there, but that day...” Williams said, pausing. “Hell of a day that time. I’ll never forget that day.” SEE REUNION, PAGE A6

SEE HAITI, PAGE A9

OUTSIDE A LITTLE WARMER

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February 24, 2013 by The Sumter Item - Issuu