Currently browsing: Tuscaloosa
In the News this weekend
August 17, 2008 by Nicki Faulk
Courtesy of the Tuscaloosa News:
Army National Guard Pfc. Teri L. Willis has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C. Willis is the daughter of Linda Bender of Northport. She graduated in 1997 from Hillcrest High School and received an associate degree in 1999 from Faulkner State Community College in Bay Minette.
Congratulations, Teri!
The Birmingham News featured a piece this morning about an Alabama Guard unit that left yesterday to go back to Afghanistan:
The training team is the fifth that the state Army Guard has sent to Afghanistan since 9/11. It recently completed two months of pre-deployment training at Fort Riley.
Lt. Col. Jeff Thrower of Alabaster, a member of the team, said recently that the mission had not been fully defined.
“Right now, I know that one of our biggest pushes over there has been to get the Afghanistan police up to where they can do their jobs,” he said. “The Afghan army is in a lot better situation than they were three or four years ago, but the police have still got some issues out there. So we’re doing our best to help out across the board in both areas.”
Read the full article here.
More in the news this weekend
August 10, 2008 by Nicki Faulk
The Huntsville Times reports that a Scottsboro businessman established an account at Regions bank to help the family of Nick Bradley, a Scottsboro soldier seriously wounded in Afghanistan.
Bradley, 25, a staff sergeant in the Air Force’s 96th Wing (security forces), was injured by a roadside bomb last Sunday. He was flown Tuesday to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where his father-in-law, Scottsboro Police Chief Ralph Dawe, said he’s in stable condition.
Donations to the Nick Bradley Fund may be made at Regions Bank, located at 510 E. Laurel St. in Scottsboro. For more information, call the bank at 256-259-1516.
Michael J. Parham, son of Doretha Parham and Michael J. Johnson, both of Tuscaloosa, completed Navy basic training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Ill. Parham is a 2008 graduate of Central High School.
Congratulations, Michael!
The Birmingham News reports an Alabama Guard initiative that is helping troops who return from war duty via the state’s Army Guard’s Yellow Ribbon reintegration program.
The Yellow Ribbon help included information about job opportunities and insurance and veterans benefits, plus activities and baby sitters for soldiers’ children. It also sought to give the soldiers and their loved ones a chance to discuss with chaplains and counselors what they face as they seek to resume the way of life they knew before deployment.
For more information, call 2nd Lt. Matthew Spivey at 334-558-4132.
In the news this weekend
July 27, 2008 by Nicki Faulk
Published in the Tuscaloosa News this morning:
Brandon C. Matthews, a 2006 graduate of Linden High School, completed 12 weeks of basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S.C.
Congratulations, Brandon!
Also, this story was featured in Friday’s edition of The Enterprise Ledger:
Local woman baking homemade cakes to send to soldiers in Iraq
It’s in Nancy Helms’ nature to be giving and the soldiers in Iraq are benefiting from her generosity.
Helms has been baking homemade pound cakes at Country Best Farm in Enterprise for several months and because of an idea and “the Lord telling me to do this,” she is now sending the homemade cakes to soldiers from Coffee County who are stationed in Iraq…
Read the entire article here.
Thank you, Nancy!
Tuscaloosa native graduates from basic training
June 15, 2008 by Nicki Faulk
Per the Tuscaloosa News:
Air National Guard Airman Andre A. Callaway has graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio. He is the son of Carrie Callaway of Tuscaloosa. Callaway received an associate degree in 2006 from Trenholm State Technical College in Montgomery.
Congratulations, Andre!
Tuscaloosa native graduates from Naval Academy
June 15, 2008 by Nicki Faulk
Per the Tuscaloosa News:
Navy Ensign Spencer D. Suarez, son of Teresa and Adrian Suarez of Tuscaloosa, graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., and was commissioned as an officer in the Navy. Suarez is a 2004 graduate of Hillcrest High School.
Congratulations, Spencer!
Son of Gadsden native heads to West Point
June 15, 2008 by Nicki Faulk
Courtesy of The Gadsden Times:
Cathye Townsend said she remembers Gadsden fondly and always is happy to visit her old hometown. It allows her time to visit family and reconnect with old friends. But even greater, this time around, she came bearing good news.
Her son, Andrew “Andy” Townsend, is one of 19 students from Alabama on their way to fulfilling their dreams of a military career as students at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.
Townsend, who received the news a few weeks ago, said she is still stunned, shocked and scared all at the same time.
“We’re just so thrilled for him, he’s such a wonderful boy and this has been a lifelong dream for him,” she said.
Townsend, who now lives in Tuscaloosa, said the “good news” was well received by her family.
“They were so shocked and surprised that we could say someone in our family is going to West Point,” she said.
Townsend said her father, Jack Dean Carr, a World War II veteran, couldn’t wait to tell his grandson all of his old war stories.
“He was so proud,” she said.
Townsend’s mother, Cora Dean Carr, and the rest of her family all live in Gadsden and she said it has been a thrill for everyone.
Andy Townsend will attend West Point with a fellow senior from Hillcrest High School in Tuscaloosa, J.T. Watkins. The two young men were the only ones from west Alabama selected to attend the U.S. Military Academy.
According to a story in the Tuscaloosa News, Maj. Michael McBride of West Point admissions said only one of 10 who applies is accepted.
This year, West Point received more than 10,000 applications from students who were nominated by their member of Congress or U.S. senator.
In this case, U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, D-Birmingham, nominated both Andy Townsend and Watkins. Andy also received a presidential nomination.
Townsend said it is a great accomplishment for both Hillcrest students who received more than $800,000 in scholarship money.
Davis had a reception in their honor last month to celebrate their achievements.
Andy leaves for boot camp on June 28. Townsend said her son will begin “walking the gray line,” as the military refers to it, on June 30.
Andy will be missed greatly by his parents, but especially his twin brother, Corey, who is expected to attend the University of Alabama in the fall.
“It’s going to be their first separation,” Cathye Townsend said. “They’re going to miss each other a lot.”
But this is what Andy wants to do, he wants to follow in his dad’s footsteps, Townsend said.
Andy’s dad, Maj. Tommy Townsend, is retired and told the Tuscaloosa News that West Point is an honor and tradition.
Congratulations, Andy!
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