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November 17, 2009

Helping those who serve

By Karen Middleton and Jean Cole

jean@athensnews-courier.com



Tony Gooch said it is the duty of Americans to help the families of those deployed in service to their nation.

To that end, Gooch is hosting a benefit chicken stew at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in Athens to help families of the 203rd Military Police Battalion, which is based in Athens but currently deployed to Iraq.

The stew will be held at Gooch’s business — Precision Defense Systems — at 17198 U.S. 72 West, beside the Water Authority building.

Stew will sell for $5 a quart, and buyers should bring their own containers, said Amanda Bailey, chairwoman of the Family Readiness Group, which supports the 203rd.

The event will include $20 helicopter rides and a rock-climbing wall, she said.

Proceeds will supply holiday food and gifts for military families in need of assistance, Bailey said.

Tickets for the stew can be purchased at the event or on the FRG Web site at http://www.frg203rd.org/.

Gooch, a Z-TV cameraman, was struck by the ages of some of the members of the 203rd, which left Athens in June and went to Iraq in September.

“A couple of these guys are grandfathers, and that didn’t set right with me,” Gooch said. “Fighting wars is a young man’s job.”

He decided to host the fundraiser for the FRG to help the soldiers’ families.

“Most of the times this is the first time these guys have been separated from their families on holidays,” Gooch said. “These are the breadwinners for their families, and it could be a tough winter and a tough Thanksgiving and Christmas for them. Whatever we can do to make life better for them, we should do it.”

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Theo Calvin, seated, receives medals Monday from Lt. Gen. Richard Formica at Monday’s Memorial Day ceremony. Calvin, who served in World War II under Gen. George Patton’s command, earned the medals while serving in the U.S. Army, but had not received them. Calvin’s wife, Virginia, is seen at left.

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