A tribute to the Carolinas as we honor our military on Veterans Day | Opinion

As every young child learns, Veterans Day is an important holiday to many. It’s almost a religious holiday for some. Less well known is the immense role the Carolinas played during one of our nation’s most recent conflicts, Operation Iraqi Freedom, which began with a massive “shock and awe” bombing campaign on March 20, 2003, and concluded on Dec. 15, 2011.

As we celebrate this Veterans Day on Nov. 11, we should pause not just to honor service, but to feel the weight of it. These snapshots from around the Carolinas remind us that our beloved states gave much to this conflict and the weight carried by those in uniform was largely supported by those back here.

Thousands of North and South Carolinians answered the nation’s call — and many gave everything — in Operation Iraqi Freedom. In many ways, the conflict was bookended by the Carolinas.

It may be a surprise to hear that the first and last U.S. fatalities in Operation Iraqi Freedom have direct ties to the Carolinas.

Marine 1st Lt. Shane Childers, a prior-enlisted Marine and a 2001 graduate of The Citadel, South Carolina’s famed military college, became the first U.S. fatality of the invasion when his unit attempted to secure key infrastructure near Basrah, Iraq, on the conflict’s second day.

Then, on Nov. 14, 2011, a month before the conflict ended, Army Specialist David Hickman, an all-conference high school linebacker from Greensboro, N.C., deployed with the 82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg, gave his life on a security patrol in Baghdad.

His sacrifice marked the final U.S. combat fatality of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Though these two patriots stand at either end of the conflict, they are but two among the 162 Carolina residents and approximately 500 Carolina-based heroes who ended up giving their all for their nation.

While every state can claim a share of sacrifice in our nation’s wars, it is important to recognize the unique ways the Carolinas supported this nearly nine-month struggle.

Half of all U.S. Marines (and every female Marine) during this period first stood on the renowned yellow footprints at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in Beaufort, and a significant portion of Operation Iraqi Freedom soldiers also marched across the parade field at Fort Jackson in Columbia. And these two locations account only for the enlisted personnel.

In addition, thousands of officers passed through the halls of the Carolinas’ many colleges and universities, most with their own rich military traditions.

Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune provided a significant portion of the direct-combat and support forces on the ground in Iraq, while Pope, Shaw, Charleston, Seymour Johnson, Beaufort, New River and Cherry Point air bases delivered critical aviation combat, logistics and reconnaissance support throughout the campaign.

Beyond these major installations, hundreds of National Guard and Reserve units from across the two states deployed to do everything from unloading ships in the Port of Kuwait to patrolling the deadliest streets of Baghdad and Al Anbar Province.

The ports of Morehead City, Wilmington and Charleston also played vital roles in supplying coalition forces with the heavy equipment and material needed to sustain operations.

And the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, central to the counter-improvised explosive devices operations, largely began out of the Force Protection production facility in Ladson, S.C. Saying any armed conflict belongs to a state or region is a stretch. However, an argument can be made that the Carolinas did more than their fair share during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

And though the conflict’s purpose and final outcome may still be mired in the confusing fog of war, the veterans should be proud of their service.

They volunteered to wear what service members have long called the cloth of our nation during a time of war and covered their brothers and sisters despite race, religion, politics or gender.

Please join me in saying thank you to veterans and thank you to the citizens of the Carolinas for their support of veterans. While we will honor them more directly next May on Memorial Day, let us also bless the fallen and their loved ones.

Timothy Warren is an adjunct instructor of expeditionary warfare at Davis Defense Group and a freelance writer on defense matters. He lives in Summerville.