Soldiers in the Fort Belvoir Warrior Transition Battalion had the chance to meet a Medal of Honor recipient and pick up free business wear Friday at the Soldier and Family Assistance Center on Fort Belvoir.
Harvey "Barney" Barnum, Jr. received the Medal of Honor for valor during his service as a Marine in the Vietnam War. He also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Reserve Affairs from 2001 to 2009. On Friday, he visited the SFAC to thank wounded Soldiers for their service, wish them a speedy recovery, and give away signed copies of "Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty."
"It's my way of saying thank you to the guys who have followed me, wearing the cloth of our nation: to look them in the eye and say, 'thank you' and wish them a good rehab," Barnum said.
Spc. Gregory Tidwell, A Company, 1st Battalion, Warrior Transition Brigade got to chat with Barnum while he waited for his signed book.
"It's a great honor. It's like no other feeling," Tidwell said.
When Soldiers weren't talking with Barnum, they browsed through racks of gently-used dress clothes, from men's suits and ties to women's ball gowns.
"It's all clothing that's in very good shape," said Sgt. 1st Class Eric Stanberry, 1st Battalion, WTB. "For a lot of us, being MEDEVACed from Afghanistan, we don't have any clothes, so we have to buy them, and this really helps out.
"So far, I found a suit that actually fits and three shirts and three ties," he said.
The clothes were provided by Cindy Dwyer, a military spouse who has been hosting clothing distribution events at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for nearly 10 years and recently expanded the distribution events to include Fort Belvoir's SFAC.
Dwyer also invited Barnum to the event, since they are friends and neighbors.
The clothes are primarily for wounded, ill and injured servicemembers transitioning into the civilian work force who need dress clothes for job interviews.
"I hope that they find a suit that they can go out (in) and feel really confident that they can get a job or an internship," Dwyer said.
The free clothes can also help military spouses like Melissa Meadows, whose husband was medically evacuated to Fort Belvoir from Afghanistan after suffering a brain injury.
"I came down to just check on him and make sure he was okay and I've been here for nine months now, so this is a big deal," Meadows said. "It means a lot, especially since I came here with basically nothing."
Dwyer started collecting clothing to distribute in 2004, when she offered to help wounded servicmembers and their spouses find ball gowns to wear to formal events during George W. Bush's second inauguration. One day, as she was returning loaned gowns at the hospital, she left some women's coats on a giveaway table and received a shock.
"This young Marine came in and put on a coat. I went to him and I said 'I just want you to be aware that this is a woman's coat,' and he said 'I don't care, I'm cold.' It broke my heart," she said. "So, then we went back to everybody else and said 'Now, start giving me everything else' and it took off from there." she said.
Dwyer uses her connections as a real estate agent to ask organizations, including law firms and accounting firms, to donate gently-used dress clothes for wounded servicemembers and their Families.
"I'm really picky. I only want good quality," Dwyer said. "I don't want it to look like a thrift shop; I want it to look like Bloomingdale's."
Volunteers and clothing donations are always needed for future events like this one, Dwyer said.
For more information, contact Dwyer at cindydwyer5@gmail.com.
For more information on Barnum's story, visit www.medalofhonorspeakout.org/bio/harvey-barnum.
The Soldier and Family Assistance Center provides support services and information for Warriors in Transition and their Families. For more information, call SFAC Director Sherrell Murray at (571) 231-7023.
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