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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER, 2009
CHS alum to make second trip to Iraq
By Katie Huston
LIKE FATHER like son,
Major Samuel Charles (Chuck)
Thompson II had dreams of
serving his country.
Thompson graduated from
Commerce High School in
1993 and enlisted when he
was 17. His recruiting officer?
None other than Sgt. First Class
Samuel Charles Thompson, or
as he knows him. Dad.
His father is familiar to
many thanks to Jackson
County Comprehensive High
School’s Junior Reserve
Officers' Training Corps pro
gram, which he helps teach.
The younger Thompson's
enlistment was part of a
scholarship to North Georgia
College and State University
in Dahlonega where he enlist
ed in the National Guard and
commissioned out of there.
Currently, Thompson’s key
responsibility is learning. He
is a student in Command and
General Staff College (CGSC)
at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas,
which he says is basically
army college.
“You get to learn how to
transition from thinking tacti
cally to thinking operational
ly and strategically,'' he said.
Last week, he spoke to stu
dents, mostly those in JROTC
classes, about his past experi
ences and their future options
as far as the army goes.
Thompson has been to
Korea and Iraq and has visited
Afghanistan. Overall,
he's spent more than
38 months overseas.
And the tally is about
to rise again.
Thompson will fin
ish school in December
and take a little time
off before moving to
Hawaii for six months
in January with his
family in tow. After
that, it’s off to Iraq for
one year for his second
deployment.
Thompson's wife is
a nurse and together,
they have two chil
dren. A four-year-old
son and a two-year-old
daughter. In addition, a
daughter is on the way
due Oct. 7.
“(My wife) is okay
with the traveling,"
Thompson said. “She
doesn't like the deploy
ments that much. It's
hard raising three kids
under the age of five by
herself.”
His schedule for the
part doesn't keep him
too often during the day.
“I’m there pretty much,”
he said. “Like right now, it's
great because I get out around
3:30 in the afternoon and I go
straight home and I get plenty
of family time. But on a normal
duty day. I’m up and out of the
house around 5:30 (a.m.) and I
get home somewhere between
IRAQ BOUND
After graduation from an army college in December, Major
Chuck Thompson will travel to Hawaii for six months and then
off to his second deployment in Iraq.
Photo by Katie Huston
most
away
5:30 and 6 in the afternoon.”
Though the family will travel
to Hawaii with Thompson, they
won’t be traveling overseas.
“Nope. Family doesn't get to
go to combat zones,” he said.
The last time Thompson was
in Iraq was before he was mar
ried. While away, they com
municate mostly via Skype and
while his children are accus
tomed to his deployments, he’s
never been away for an entire
year like he will be soon.
“I’ve been deployed several
times since they've been old
enough to know that daddy
needs to go away,” Thompson
said. “They are only used to
daddy being gone for about
120 days or 4 months.”
Seeing that Thompson fol
lowed in his father’s footsteps,
he’s prepared if his son choos
es to do the same.
“It’d be fine,” he said. “It’d
break my heart: but it’d be
fine.”
JHS CLASS OF 1954 REUNION
The Jefferson High School class of 1954
held a reunion on Saturday, Aug. 8, at
The Redd House. Seventeen members of
the class and two former teachers, Hilda
Tonge and Martha Jo Blackstock, were in
attendance. Pictured (front row, L to R) are:
Martha Jean Adams Maye, Hilda Blackstock
Tonge and Martha Jo Blackstock, teachers,
Grace Porter Dalrymple, Jackie Marlowe
McElwee, Carolyn Wier Thurmond, Beverly
James Fleeman, Joyce Williamson Roberts,
Carolyn Shirley Merk and Martha Sue Smith
Wier; (back row, L to R) Clyde Martin, Charles
Davis, Terrell Benton, Billy Wilbanks, Billy
Taylor, Bobby Davis, Jerome Fleeman,
William Legg and Marvin Hall.
AT HALEAKALA CRATER IN MAUI
Patrick and Vickie Chames, Hoschton, took a copy of
The Jackson Herald with them to the Haleakala Crater
in Maui, Hawaii, while they celebrated their 20th wed
ding anniversary.
FIRST VACATION
The Jackson Herald traveled to Panama City Beach,
Fla., with Landon James Attaway on his first vaca
tion. He is the son of Tim and Danielle Attaway and
is grandson of Billy and Vickie Attaway of Jackson
County.
TRIP TO DISNEY WORLD
Kaleb Matthew Bratek took a copy of The Jackson
Herald with him when he visited Disney World.
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