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Patriots, start your engines
It's a great week to be a veteran in Columbia, South Carolina. With Nov. 10's 11 am Veterans' Day Parade as a moving tribute to those who secured America's freedom, the week is studded with remembrances and honors. Prior to the parade, the Columbia Action Council is hosting a special 10:30 am ceremony at the corner of Washington and Sumter streets. The 28th annual parade is being led by Fort Jackson Commander Brigadier General James H. Schwitters, commander of Fort Jackson. Riverbanks Zoo and Garden will honor all service men and women with free admission when they show a military ID card. At 2 pm Friday, the Woman's Club of Columbia will host a re-dedication of the recently repaired and refurbished WWII monument, now in its new Five Points location, still on Saluda Avenue, but now on the south side of Blossom Street. Saturday, November 11, a musical tribute will be offered during a free concert in the auditorium at the South Carolina Archives and History Center, 8301 Parklane Road, as a fitting closing for the day-long History Lovers' Market. Also on Saturday Historic Columbia Foundation is offering free tours of all its historic houses.
"From the time my dad first mentioned that he would like to ride in the parade someday, I could envision driving him myself, and made it my goal," Cartledge said. "I could see him in a jeep as similar as possible to one that would have transported him during WWII He was part of the SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces) under (then-General Dwight) Eisenhower's command in Europe." Cartledge took the first bold step toward his dream years ago when he bought a vintage jeep from a Lexington owner. The former Marine ranger worked on the jeep as time allowed, and when he thought he was getting close, he tightened down on his goal, hoping to get the jeep ready for the early November parade the Columbia Action Council held annually to honor veterans. "Well into October, I was disappointed to realize I was not going to make it. I didn't have all the parts I needed, and the parade was coming up in little over a week. Then in a convenience store I happened to be in, instinct told me to pick up a Trader , something I do only a couple of times a year." In that edition Cartledge found somebody in Congaree willing to sell a vintage jeep like the one he had been working on, only this one, he found out, was much closer to operational than the one he had poured so much sweat into. "Even though we had to carry the gas tank on the front seat of the truck with a hose running to the engine, we made it," Cartledge said. Holding the gas tank in his lap was Cartledge's father, David Lloyd Cartledge and his long-time friend. "Dad and Mr. Hill grew up together in Edgefield. Mr. Hill served in the Fourth Marine Division; he was wounded on Iwo Jima." Putting that jeep in gear for the parade a couple of years ago was a harbinger of things to come. Cartledge has since formed a South Carolina chapter of the national Military Vehicle Collectors organization and taken on a more responsible role with Celebrate Freedom. The jeep he was working on before finding the one in the Trader is now operational, too. "Friday, Nov. 10, we will have 27 restored vehicles in the parade, including a 1944 command car that's coming over from Orangeburg." Then on Saturday Cartlege will park some of the military vehicles on the grounds of the South Carolina Archives and History Center, 8301 Parklane Road, as a participant in History Lovers' Market. "In addition to honoring our veterans, our presence at History Lovers' Market will be a reminder that Celebrate Freedom is just six months away."
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