Honoring the fallen

Local residents pay tribute to S.C. natives killed serving country

May 30, 2005

By WALLACE McBRIDE
Index-Journal senior staff writer

Five seats were reserved Sunday for absent guests.
Arranged near the podium for an early Memorial Day ceremony were five chairs bearing the names of dead Marines. The seats represented South Carolina natives killed in Iraq or Afghanistan since 2003.
In all, the names of 492 Marines and Navy corpsmen were read during Sunday’s Memorial Day service in Uptown Greenwood.
“Without the sacrifice, the willingness to go in harm’s way, we would not have the freedoms that we have,” Lakelands Marine Commandant Phil Lucas told the gathering. “Today we honor and celebrate and memorialize the sacrifices made by generations of Americans since the formation of the republic.”
A bell was rung after the reading of each name, with Marines from South Carolina reserved for reading at the end of the event.
Lakelands Marines also are participating in today’s regular Memorial Day service, but wanted a day to specially honor Marines killed in the Middle East since 2003, Lucas said.
“We thought Sunday was appropriate for this service,” he said. “We thought this should just be about the fallen.”
American Legion Post 20 and other local veterans organizations will have a Memorial Day observance at 11 a.m. today on the Square in Greenwood. The speaker will be Lt. Col. George McKinney.

Counterfeit currency surfacing in cycles in Greenwood County

May 30, 2005

By SHAVONNE POTTS
Index-Journal staff writer

Advances in technology lend themselves to faster travel and improved medical treatments as well as easier ways to digitally create just about anything — including money.
The amount of counterfeit currency flowing throughout Greenwood County has surfaced in cycles in recent months, authorities say.
“We have had numerous incidences,” said Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Roderick Beauford.
Beauford said he did recall an incident that occurred this year in which the narcotics division served a search warrant on a house, where more than $3,000 in counterfeit bills was found.
“There were two suspects, and one of them had a large amount of money,” Beauford said.
Serial numbers on the money matched confiscated money that had already been turned into Beauford, who works with fraud cases.
He said often the incidences involving the use of counterfeit money occur when someone goes to a nightclub and pays with the phony money. The waiters and waitresses become busy and might not know they’ve received fake money, he said.
“It’s dark in there, and they won’t know it until they go to bank,” Beauford said.
At McDonald’s drive-throughs in Greenwood signs warn customers that large denomination bills won’t be accepted.
It sometimes isn’t until the money reaches the bank that it is discovered by tellers to be counterfeit.
“People who work at the banks are so accustomed to the feel of the money,” Beauford said.
In the recent investigation that involved the confiscated $3,000, the money was turned over to the Secret Service for further investigations.
“We weren’t dealing with an amateur,” he said, “we were dealing with a pro.”
As seen by the Greenwood Police Department, counterfeit money investigations are just not as prevalent as other cases that involve crimes such as check fraud.
“We do investigate them. They come in spurts. We’ll have several weeks and then none,”

GHS athletes exercising more than their brains

End-of-year strength testing evaluates students for next school year

May 30, 2005

By RON COX
Index-Journal sports writer

The students at Greenwood High School spent plenty of time over the final few weeks of school taking tests in the classroom.
However, there was one exam that challenged more muscle than mind.
Greenwood students who plan to participate in athletics next season went through the end-of-the-year strength testing earlier this month.
Eagles strength coordinator David Walton tested the limits of the student-athletes, having them reach their threshold of weight in three lifts: bench presses, cleans and squats.
“We use our end-of-the-year testing to evaluate our athletes to see where we are going into the new season compared to last year,” Walton said. “It gives us a judgement point as far as how much they’ve progressed from January, which is the last time we tested them, until May.”
While Walton and the rest of the Greenwood coaches use the data complied from the strength testing to measure development, the student-athletes, especially the football players, have an ulterior motive.
Those prospective Eagles use the end-of-the-year testing to put themselves in a good position to earn “War Eagle” status.
Student-athletes can earn this distinction by finishing in the top three in total poundage in the three combined lifts. A fourth “War Eagle” honor is given to the strength-index leader, which is the total poundage divided by the participants body weight.
The three, possibly four, deserving athletes have their photos hung on the wall of the weight room, and they remain there long after they’ve graduated.
The first “War Eagle” group, coming from football coach Shell Dula’s first group of Greenwood football players, still hangs on the weight room wall.
“For them, the club level they can get into based on what they lift is a big drive for them,” Walton said. “So for anybody that scored really well, they know that anytime they walk into the weightroom they’ll see their name up there. It’s something that they’re really proud of because of the hard work they did to get there.
“Those pictures will continue to go around that wall. And any time they come back, say if they come back from college, they can come to the weight room to see their picture on the wall as one of the top lifters of that year.”
May’s strength tests don’t determine the “War Eagles” for the upcoming season. That will be determined at the end of the summer break.
But Walton believes the final test of the school year gives the student-athletes an indication of what is needed to reach that important honor.
“They know after the end-of-the-year testing if that’s something they can achieve this year,” Walton said. “They know now if they’re close to the top how much more they need to get there.”
John Hamrick and Matt Rush, who both finished up their junior years, sit atop the leaderboard in the overall poundage category, with 1,015 pounds on the three lifts. Jamar Crawford, who also finished his junior year, and Zack Norman, who will be a junior next year, are next on the list, at 985 and 975, respectively.
However, Hamrick, who bench-pressed 330 pounds, also leads the strength index group as well, with a 5.52 result. Martinez Murray is next on the list with 5.31, while Armanti Edwards and Andre Saxon both recorded a 5.26.
But that’s not the only benefit that Walton has seen the athlete receive from good test results. There have been times where some have actually seen an increase of playing time because of their work in the weight room.
“Because the coaches see that he’s strong, he’s fast, his vertical jump is good, but he may not meet the body type of a certain position, but they start tinkering with ways to get them in the game,” Walton said. “It’s another opportunity to impress the coaches not just on the practice field, but showing what they’ll do in the off-season, which is a big thing when college coaches come to look.”

Opinion

Today we salute veterans who gave all ... and still do

May 30, 2005

With so many American troops spread around the world, many of them in harm’s way in the Middle East, they are always in the thoughts and prayers of their families and friends. Today, though, Memorial Day, 2005, they are on the minds of every American who knows all too well that freedom is never free.
On this day they all will be saluted in ceremonies in Greenwood as well as in special events and parades all over the country. They deserve the attention, of course, and they’ve earned our collective respect for putting their lives on the line to help pay for the freedom we all cherish and which allows us to hold such celebrations.

TODAY, THOUGH, WAS intended as a special occasion to pay tribute to the Americans who have given their lives in defense of all that we hold dear.
At one time or another in our relatively recent history, there weren’t many families in South Carolina, or any other state for that matter, that hadn’t lost someone, particularly in World War II. But then came Korea and Vietnam and Grenada and Panama and Kosovo and the first and second Gulf wars. In all those places – and others – Americans accepted the challenge of standing up for the rights of all people. Many of our fathers, sons, daughters, uncles and cousins made the ultimate sacrifice for people they didn’t even know.
In some instances, this nation and its people have been the object of protests in places near and far. More often than not, though, those anti-American gatherings are politically motivated ….. by people who would turn every democracy into dictatorships if they could ….. and didn’t because of American efforts.

THOSE WHO KNOW WHAT our sons and daughters have given in their behalf, though, are not likely to be found in any protest march or holding banners chastising the U. S. A. Instead, these people know where they would be were it not for the sacrifices of the youth of America and their families. And the reality is, most of those who have gone off to fight battles in defense of freedom all over the world have been hardly more than boys and girls when they left home. When they come back, though, if they come back, many are old beyond their years.
So, remember today, and honor those who died for every last one of us. And pray for those who are still doing it.

Editorial expression in this feature represents our own views.
Opinions are limited to this page.

Obituaries

Frances Boyd Davis

LAURENS — Frances Boyd Davis, 84, widow of Joseph McJunkin Davis of 4000 Academy St. died Sunday, May 29th in Greenwood.
A lifelong native of Laurens she was a daughter of the late Carlos Brown and Beatrice Caldwell Boyd.
Mrs. Davis was a lifelong member of the First Baptist Church of Laurens and charter member of the Golden Circle Sunday School Class. She was a member of the Independent Telephone Pioneer Association and was retired from the South Carolina Continental Telephone Company.
Surviving are one son, Sam B. Davis and his wife Jean of Greenwood; two grandchildren, Amy Davis Wilde and her husband Scott of Peachtree City, GA., Andrew Boyd Davis and his wife Molly of Cornelia, GA., three great grandchildren, Hannah and Landon Wilde of Peachtree City, GA and Kade Davis of Cornelia, GA, and one sister, Margaret Boyd Moore of Laurens.
Funeral services will be conducted Tuesday, May 31st at 11:00 a.m. in the Gray Funeral Home Chapel of Laurens with burial in the New Prospect Baptist Church Cemetery.
The family will receive friends Monday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the funeral home.
Memorials may be made to the Hospice of Laurens County, P.O. Box 178, Clinton, SC 29325 or a charity of one’s choice.
The family will be at the home of Sam and Jean Davis, 405 Locksley Dr., Greenwood, SC.
Gray Funeral Home of Laurens.
PAID OBITUARY

Robert Goens

McCORMICK — Robert Roger Goens, 66, of 174 Sherman Lane, Savannah Lake Village, husband of Mary Ligon Goens, died Friday, May 27, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Paw Paw, Mich., he was a son of the late Robert Lowell and Edith Louise Mitchell Goens. He was a Army veteran and a member of McCormick First Baptist Church. He was a retired from Pfizer Corporation in Michigan and employed by the McCormick Senior Center.
Survivors include his wife of the home; two daughters, Vivian R. Daniels of Ninles, Mich., and Sheri Wilson of Goodletteville, Tenn.; seven sisters, Jacqueline Evans, Geraldine Haines, Sally Davis and Mary Gilliam, all of Cassopolis, Mich., Joyce Perkins of Flint, Mich., Roberta Jefferies of Mattawan, Mich., and Marilyn Evans of Vandalia, Mich.; two brothers, Gordon Goens of Paw Paw, Mich., and Billy Goens of Standish, Mich.; and three grandchildren.
A memorial service will be at a later date.
Visitation is from 7-8 Tuesday at Walker Funeral Home.
The family is at the home.
Walker Funeral Home, McCormick, is in charge.

James R. Waldrup

HODGES — James Russell Waldrup, 43, of 1025 Flatwood Road, died Saturday, May 28, 2005 in Hodges.
The family will be at the home of his wife, Reba Waldrup, 14 A Fleming St., Ware Shoals, and at the home of his sister, Terry Dial, 1023 Flatwood Road, Hodges.
Services will be announced by Robinson-Walker Funeral Service, Ware Shoals.