‘Life for them is rough’

Greenwood man gives ‘firsthand account’ of service in Iraq

February 9, 2006

By MEGAN VARNER
Index-Journal senior staff writer

During his year serving in Iraq with the 111th Signal Battalion of the U.S. Army National Guard, Greenwood resident Jim Laforge picked up a lot of stories to bring home to family and friends.
There was the oppressive heat, the sandstorms, the Iraqi palaces used by Saddam Hussein, and, of course, the close calls with mortars and bombs that soldiers stationed in the Middle East dealt with on a daily basis.
There are enough stories, Laforge said, to keep journalists busy with their notebooks for ages.
On Wednesday, Laforge gave fellow members of First Presbyterian Church, of Greenwood, a chance to ask questions and listen to a soldier’s viewpoint on what it is like to serve in the desert during the war on terror.
Laforge, a U.S. Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War, left the military in July 1970. But after a 13-year gap, he joined the S.C. National Guard in 1983.
The father of two said he decided to join the National Guard because he “wanted to play on the planes again,” adding that, “once I got back in it, it was hard to say I was going to get out.”
Fourteen years later, that decision landed him in Baghdad with another 171 members of his battalion, completing communications and wiring missions and giving support to other units.
In May, Laforge returned to the states and his job at Capsugel, where he was honored in August for his service to his country, and he said he’s been fielding questions about his time overseas ever since.
“The weather, that’s the biggest thing, but they also ask if it was dangerous,” Laforge said. “They want to know what it was like.”
Candace Ramseur said that was the main reason she asked Laforge to speak to his fellow church members as a group during the Wednesday night fellowship program.
“Everyone is interested in what is going on in Iraq, and this is a firsthand account,” she said. “We had prayed for him the whole time he was over there.”
Pastor Dave Mayo echoed that cry of support for the troops.
“We obviously keep them in our prayers. We are very proud of them and thankful for them,” Mayo said. “It’s critical for the soldiers to know that there are people back home who care for them and are grateful for their sacrifice.”
Laforge, now retired as a sergeant 1st Class, said that support and prayer could be felt across an ocean and a desert. “It brings a little bit of home to the far east. You are away from family and friends and the support lets soldiers know that they are thinking about you, that they haven’t forgotten,” Laforge said, adding that seeing the support arrive in the form of cards, letters and praise upon their return make the sacrifice worthwhile.
“The thoughtfulness that you have today is something that soldiers didn’t have (after Vietnam),” he said. “No matter where we are, people come up to us and say, ‘Thank you.’ That wasn’t so 40 years ago.”
Laforge gave the audience of about 80 people a glimpse of Iraq, with a slide show of photos detailing the landscape, 130-degree-plus heat, the living quarters of soldiers and the elegant palaces and gruesome torture devices used by Hussein before his fall from power.
“The opulence is unbelievable,” he said of one of the palaces that contained gilded doors and furniture, large chandeliers and priceless artwork. “The average person in Iraq doesn’t know what exists behind those walls.”
Laforge said the reception the soldiers received from Iraqi citizens was generally positive, though there were occasions when some were resistant – even violent – toward the soldiers. Most of the natives, he said, had lived in deplorable conditions under Hussein’s rule, many scraping by on minimal wages.
“Life for them is rough,” he said. “It’s better now than it was because they can earn something, whereas Saddam held them back to $3 a day ... They didn’t have power or water. They are getting those things now that they never had.
“Saddam only took care of a handful of people. We are taking care of everybody,” he added.
Of course, discussion did turn to the weather.
“The temperature and sandstorms were unbelievable,” he said. “You roll the windows up (on a vehicle) because the air blowing in on you feels like a hair dryer ... The first day it rained, we all walked out and stood in it. We hadn’t seen raindrops in so long.”

Climbing back to the top

First-year coach Brett Simpson wants to rebuild Bearcats men’s tennis

February 9, 2006

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal sports writer

First-year Lander University tennis coach Brett Simpson has some big shoes to fill.
Simpson, a former Lander player and Anderson University tennis coach, is taking over for retired Bearcats coach Joe Cabri. Cabri won eight NCAA Division II national championships and four NAIA national championships in his 31 years as Lander’s coach.
However, Lander’s last national title was in 2000, and the Bearcats were just 3-11 a year ago. With Lander’s 2006 season set to begin Saturday with a home match against Mount Olive, Simpson is enthusiastic about the opportunities that lay ahead for the team.
“I feel great about being able to come back to Lander and help keep this program going at a top level,” Simpson said. “We have a great history here at Lander, and I want to instill a pride in that history in our current players.”
The Bearcats were picked fifth in the Peach Belt Conference preseason coaches poll. Simpson praised the level of competition in the conference.
“We were picked fifth in this region,” Simpson said. “And the four teams ahead of us in the region were the four teams ahead of us in the Peach Belt. It is certainly one of the top Division II conferences in the nation.”
Simpson said the team has been practicing and preparing diligently, especially since the beginning of the winter semester.
The coach said there has been heated competition for the top six singles spots.
Junior Nicolas Legros, from Mayotte, France, will be one of the Bearcats top returning singles players. The strong serving Legros is ranked No. 9 in the country among Division II players.
Legros is not alone in the individual national rankings among Bearcats players.
Freshman Joakim Karlsson, of Smalandsstenar, Sweden, is ranked 22nd in the nation. Karlsson, a wiry baseline player known for his speed and creativity with ground strokes, made a splash in the fall when he won the Fifth Annual Alltel Men’s Tennis Championships in Milledgeville, Ga.
“Joakim has come in and done well,” Simpson said. “He kind of opened some eyes winning that tournament in the fall.”
Andre Ivarsson, who played number five singles a year ago, also figures heavily into the Bearcats’ plans, and could move up in terms of seeding. Ivarsson had a 5-2 singles record during fall tournaments.
Several others also angling for singles spots will certainly be key contributors for Lander.
Included are junior Henrik Erlandsson and sophomores Akshay Chellappa, Carlos Benatzky and Boris Simic.
Stephan Tewas, who enrolled at Lander in January, is also slated to add stability to the Bearcats roster.
Simpson said he expects Tewas to “make an impact right away.”
Though the Bearcats are not completely settled on a doubles lineup, they do have one team locked and ready.
Karlsson and Ivarsson form a duo that is ranked No. 11 nationally.
The tandem had a 4-2 record in fall tournaments, and looks to be one of the top doubles teams in the PBC.
Simpson said this year’s team should se an improvement over last season’s results.
“This team is probably as good as any I coached at Anderson,” Simpson said.
“There is certainly a lot of potential. Our players can’t worry about pressure from results in the past. All we can control is what is happening right now.”

Opinion

Funeral was wrong place to push partisan politics

February 9, 2006

To paraphrase Shakespeare, most of the speakers at the funeral of Mrs. Coretta Scott King were there to praise her contributions to the betterment of all people and to celebrate a life devoted to the civil rights movement.
That was all that was necessary ..... for most speakers, including President George Bush, former Presidents Bush and Clinton, and a gathering of dignataries and ordinary people there to pay their respects. It’s a shame that all speakers didn’t follow that protocol, as their politics violated the sanctity of the event.
Intentional or not, former President Jimmy Carter and the Rev. Joseph Lowery, co-founder with Dr. Martin Luther King of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, for example, made politics part of the focus of their time at the podium.

MR. CARTER, WHO HAS continuously departed from the usual policy of former presidents not to be critical of other presidents, crossed that line again.. He used the occasion to denigrate the current president on the use of telephone intercepts to keep tabs on suspected terrorists. He tied it to the tapping of Dr. King’s telephone four decades ago.
Remember, Dr. King was the subject of federal eavesdropping way back in the Sixties. That, of course, was when Democrats John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson were in the White House and President Kennedy’s brother Bobby was U.S. Attorney General. That, however, was never mentioned.
A variety of other issues were brought up and criticized during the eulogies, including crticism of the war in Iraq, the post-Hurricane Katrina experience and a few other political matters,

THIS CONTRIBUTED TO the hostile atmosphere and divide so prevalent in today’s antagonistic political world. It’s indicative of the extremist politics that create and perpetuate the constant bickering among the people - all the people - we elect to look out for the peoples’ interests.
To be fair, bitter and ultra-partisan politics are not peculiar to any one party. As the saying goes, it takes (at least) two to tango.
Several people in Greenwood have left little doubt they are fed up with the petty bickering on both sides. They want kinder and gentler politics.They’re not getting that yet, and, unfortunately, Mrs. King’s funeral gave us a high-profile example of the way it is. It’s a shame,too. It wasn’t the time, place or especially the occasion for anything but praising the life of the “First Lady of civil rights.”

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

Obituaries

Mary Ruth Battle

ABBEVILLE — Mary Ruth Battle, 87, of 108 Wingfield St., widow of Joseph “Joel” Battle, died Monday, Feb. 6, 2006 at Abbeville County Memorial Hospital.
Born in Abbeville, she was a daughter of the late George Wharton Sr. and Carrie Thompson Wharton. She retired from Fovil Manufacturing and was a member and trustee of Washington Street Presbyterian Church. She was also a member of Women’s Home Aide Society Lodge No. 81.
Survivors include a son, Joseph Battle of Abbeville; two daughters, Eva Mae Battle of the home and Gail L. Agnew of Anderson; three brothers, William Wharton of Sumter, Harry Wharton of Abbeville and Joe Wharton of Decatur, Ga.; a sister, Corrie Bell Dawson of Brooklyn, N.Y.; eight grandchildren, three reared in the home, Jacqueline B. Jamison, Sophia L. Simmons and Panela A. Battle; six great-grandchildren, two reared in the home, Ricardo Battle and Jacquan Williams; and a great-great-grandchild.
Services are 2 p.m. Saturday at St. Peter AME Church, conducted by the Revs. Albert Thompson, Alice Ridgill and E. Haynes. The body will be placed in the church at 1. Burial is in Forest Lawn Memory Gardens.
Viewing is 1-8 Friday at Richie Funeral Home.
Visitation is 6-8 Friday at the funeral home.
The family is at the home.
Richie Funeral Home Inc. is in charge.

Anna Joy Jackson

HODGES — Anna Joy Jackson, 81, formerly of Hodges, died Monday, Feb. 6, 2006 at Hospice of the Piedmont Hospice House, Greenwood.
Services are in California.
Cremation Society of South Carolina.

Willie Mae Kennedy

ABBEVILLE — Services for Willie Mae Kennedy are 2 p.m. today at Brown and Walker Funeral Home, conducted by the Revs. James Kay and Donnie Kennedy. Burial is in Harbison Cemetery.
The family is at the home of a sister Sallie Ruth Kennedy, 117 Dutchman Road.
Brown and Walker Funeral Home is in charge.

Margaret Kennemore

NINETY SIX — Margaret Allen Kennemore, 78, of 374 Driftwood Road, Cross Hill, formerly of Ninety Six, widow of James Leonard Kennemore Sr., died Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2006 at the Hospice House.
Born in Florence, she was a daughter of the late R.J. and Norine Gibson Allen. She was a retired patient sitter and a charter member of Siloam Baptist Church.
Survivors include two sons, James Allen Kennemore of Greenwood and James Leonard “Lenn” Kennemore Jr. of Cross Hill; seven grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.
Services are 2 p.m. Saturday at Greenwood Memorial Gardens Chapel Mausoleum, conducted by the Rev. Sam Thomason. Entombment after services.
Visitation is 6-8 p.m. Friday at Harley Funeral Home.
The family is at the home in Cross Hill.
Memorials may be made to Hospice House, HospiceCare of the Piedmont, 408 W. Alexander Ave., Greenwood SC 29646.
Harley Funeral Home & Crematory is in charge.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.harleyfuneralhome.com

Howard Sparks

CLINTON — Howard Lee Sparks, 75, of 101 Henry St., died Saturday, Feb. 4, 2006 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Forest City, Pa., he was a son of the late Eva Giles and Howard Sparks. He was a nationally recognized dairy farmer. He was a member of Calvary Baptist Church.
Survivors include three children, Melvin Lee Sparks of Seneca, Patricia S. Brawner of Athens, Ga., and Bonnie J. DeFriese of Atlanta; two brothers, James Sparks of Tennessee and Delbert Sparks of Forest City; five grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.
A memorial service is 2 p.m. Sunday at Calvary Baptist Church.
Memorials may be made to Calvary Baptist Church, 702 N. Sloan St., Clinton, SC 29325.
Harley Funeral Home & Crematory, Greenwood, is in charge.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.harleyfuneralhome.com

Curtis Stewart, Sr.

GREENWOOD, SC — Curtis M, Stewart, 91, resident of 306 Clairmont Dr., widower of Maggie L. Stewart passed away February 7, 2006.
He was born in Scooba, MS, June 26, 1914 and was the son of the late Robert L. and Holon M. Stewart. Curtis attended Bowling Green College in KY. He was office manager for Lillybrook Coal Co. in Lillybrook, WVA and served as secretary and treasurer for Certified Grocery in Ocala, FL.
He was a member of the First Christian Church in Ocala, FL.
Mr. Stewart was married to the late Maggie L. Stewart for 67 years and is survived by his son Curtis, Jr, and wife Jackie Stewart, with whom he made his home since 2004, of Green-wood. Three grandchildren, Timi Eddy and Teri Lake, both of Greenwood and Jeanie Michaels of Dunnellan, FL. Six great-grandchildren and a num-ber of nieces and nephews.
He was predeceased by a son, James “Bobby” Stewart.
Cryptside services will be conducted at 11:00 AM Friday at Oakbrook Memorial Park Mausoleum Chapel with Rev. Mark Phillips officiating.
The body is at Blyth Funeral Home.
The family is at the home in Druid Hills and will receive friends at the Oakbrook Memorial Park Family Center immediately following the services.
Memorials may be made to the charity of one’s choice.
Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.blythfuneralhome.com
Blyth Funeral home & Cremation Services is assisting the Stewart family.
PAID OBITUARY