Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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AUGUST 24-30, 2016 UCW 11 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Cracker Barrel's Operation Homefront is making its famous rockers avail- able to lucky military families for free. The promotion began over the July 4th weekend and continues through Labor Day. Cracker Barrel Old Coun- try Store calls the project an effort to build "strong, stable and secure military families." Operation Rocker is a promotion whereby folks go online and purchase rocking chairs (http://shop.crackerbarrel.com/collections/ holidays/operation-rocker). For each one that's sold, the company donates a chair to Operation Homefront. It's part of the orga- nization's broader Homes on the Homefront program that helps military families by placing deserving veterans in mortgage-free homes. "Cracker Barrel is proud to serve the families of the men and women who serve our country," said company executive Beverly Carmichael. Families live in their houses rent-free for up to two years while Operation Homefront helps them understand how to be effective homeowners by building their savings and making timely payments as they contribute to a small equity fund that goes back into their house. The program also assists with home repairs and helps families navigate through the sometimes cumbersome Veter- ans Affairs system. More than 550 houses have been donated through Homes on the Homefront, according to Margi Kirst, chief development officer. Operation Homefront has made 21 homes available in North Carolina, seven of them in the Fayetteville/Fort Bragg area. The company has committed to donate $100,000 through contributions over the next year, and the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Foundation has pledged another $100,000, said Kirst. Fayetteville is one of the few military communities with two Cracker Barrel restaurants. The original is at I-95 Exit 49. More recently a second store was opened on Skibo Road. "We get a lot of traffic from military families who are traveling to and from Fort Bragg," said Tony Ciamillo, General Manager of the Cracker Barrel on Jim Johnson Road, off Cedar Creek Road. Of military patrons "Skibo likely gets more than I do," he added. He said the iconic rocking chairs sell very well in this com- munity. They range in price from $129 when on special, to $199 for customized military versions. For a Cracker Barrel patron who is not interested in buying a rocker but would still like to contribute, donations of $5 can be made by texting SALUTE to 27722. Cracker Barrel is a natural for the military because of the home-away- from home concept in its stores and restaurants. The company says it is recognized for superior performance by independent charity oversight groups; that 92 percent of Operation Homefront's expenditures go directly to programs that provide support for military families. Rocking Chairs for Military Families by JEFF THOMPSON Who are the men of the Greatest Generation? They're the men who went off to fight in the Big One. And they're the men who came home from that war and built the nations of the western world into economic powerhouses. They knew the meaning of sacrifice. They were humble men who never bragged about what they had done or been through. They were loyal, patriotic and level-headed. They are our Greatest Generation. Army Private First Class Fred P. Dallas is one of those men. He and his wife Doris live in Fayetteville. He talked about his World War II experience at the Airborne and Special Operations Museum as the Fayetteville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau kicked off Heroes Homecoming. The community's first Heroes Homecoming series of events was staged five years ago to belat- edly honor returning veterans of the Vietnam War. This year, the community honors veterans of World War II. Most events are in October and will culminate on Veterans Day in November. The Airborne and Special Operations Museum has already dedicated about 40 percent of its gallery to World War II, according to ASOM Foundation Executive-Director Paul Galloway. It's a self-guided tour that includes a C-47 aircraft mockup, a re-creation of a Normandy village and images of the European and Pacific theaters. "Our town is a point of departure and return for thousands of vets every year," ob- served Mike Gillis of the Cumberland County Veterans Council. "It is imperative that we maintain the memories and legacies" of those who have gone before us," he added. More than 16 million American men and women served in the Great War. There were 407,000 casualties among them. Dallas joined the Army in 1943 and was as- signed to the 45th Infantry Division in Italy. He was captured by the Germans in 1944 and spent six months in Stalag 12A and Stalag 4B before be- ing repatriated. Stalags were German prisoner of war camps for non-commissioned military cap- tives. Dallas was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Prisoner of War Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge and Good Conduct Medal. " "Be the best U.S. citizen you can be," he often says. "Love your country and always vote, is the message that I would like to leave with the younger generation." The Heroes Homecoming Field Guide notes that World War II was the most devastating war in history. Paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Di- vision were among the first to engage the enemy in the battle of Normandy having been dropped behind enemy lines. They fought for 33 straight days and lost more than 5,000 men. Today there are fewer than 800,000 surviving World War II veterans in the world with more than 430 of them dying every day. After the war, the 82nd, America's Guard of Honor, was permanently stationed at Fort Bragg, and the post became known as the home of the airborne. The Greatest Generation lived by the credo of human decency honor- ing courage, duty, sacrifice, personal responsibility, humility, bravery and camaraderie. They paid it forward for generations to come. JEFF THOMPSON, Senior News Reporter. COMMENTS? news@upandcomingweekly. com. 910.484.6200. NEWS Cumberland County's Next Heroes Homecoming by JEFF THOMPSON Fred and Doris Dallas