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Hometown Heroes banners return

Aiken Standard - 5/27/2023

May 27—The main downtown streets of Aiken and North Augusta will have some extra red, white and blue in place over the next several weeks, with Hometown Heroes banners being in place through early July.

The banners, a traditional local fixture in connection with Memorial Day and Veterans Day, are a project of Aiken County Veterans Council and largely the result of efforts by veteran Linda Caldwell, a retired Army nurse. The current banner count, she said, is 130 in Aiken and 63 in North Augusta.

All of North Augusta's displays are downtown, mainly along (or between) Georgia Avenue and West Avenue. Aiken's are divided between downtown, including the Newberry Street festival area, and Virginia Acres Park, around the mile-long track between Whiskey Road and Two Notch Road. One of the challenges in the current Aiken situation is in finding new, appropriate places for banner placement.

Each banner includes a picture of the honoree and the name of his or her military branch and a designation of the time of service, such as GWOT (global war on terror) or World War II. The honor is open to "an honorably discharged veteran who is a current resident or has lived in Aiken County in the past," according to the ACVC's website.

The program's earliest local connections include Air Force veteran Bob Pettit, a former mayor of North Augusta. He reported seeing banners while traveling in Chincoteague, Virginia, in the summer of 2019. Caldwell saw her father-in-law's banner in New Jersey in June 2019.

Newcomers among the Aiken honorees include David W. Alldridge, Alonzo Allen, Eric Back, Ralph "Pete" Carpenter, Dennis Carr, John Collins, John R. Cooper, Clint Dickey, Jerry Dickey, James Edwards, Scott Heath,Fletcher Jackson, Roger Jackson, Lonnie E. Johnson, Wayman Johnson, Frank Loudermilk Jr., Jeff Matthews, Billy Dale Medlin, Warren M. Miller, Michael Newland, Dean Nunn, Brent Parker, Roger Rodgers, Chipper Saunders, Robert Smoak, Jesse Waters, Freddy Wienbeck and Louis Williams.

Honorees on new displays in North Augusta are Tommy DeGennaro, Larry Holton, Ray J. Laughrun, Richard F. Longsworth and M. H. White, Jr..

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(c)2023 the Aiken Standard (Aiken, S.C.)

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