Greater Valley Area Homebuilder Offers Incentives to Those in Military

Homebuyers can earn upgrade opportunities based on Military service
Greater Valley Group (GVG), the developer of Quail Run, a master-planned community and Riverside Estates, a golf course community, both in Lanett, Ala. is offering any homebuyer that is in the Military up to two percent of the purchase price towards upgrades such as appliances, tile, plumbing fixtures and deck rails to name a few.

“This is a great opportunity for someone who is moving to the Greater Valley Area or is living here already to take advantage of upgrades we are providing,” said Tim Randolph, Chief Operating Officer for Southern Place Homes, the premier builder for both communities. “Both of our communities are just a short drive to Ft. Benning.”

Quail Run is approximately five miles north of downtown West Point, Ga., on West Fredonia Road. The neighborhood is nestled in a relaxing setting close to West Point Lake and features an extensive array of community amenities, including a pool, pavilion, multi-purpose sports field, tennis courts and a fishing lake. A nearby hunting persevere will open at the end of the year and an equestrian center is scheduled to open in 2011. With 236 lots and homes starting from $180,000’s, Quail Run is an ideal choice for Military personnel.

The community features three and four bedroom single-family design plans ranging in size from 1,800 to 4,000 square feet. Each home sits on approximately one third acre. Standard features include granite countertops, hardwood floors, front and back porches, crown molding, Whirlpool Appliances and carriage style garage doors.
Riverside Estates is approximately four miles north of downtown West Point, Ga. All residents receive a one-year membership to Riverside Country Club after paying their initial HOA fees.

Homes in this community offer luxury features and amenities homeowners desire, with flexible plans that meet the needs of today’s family. With 101 of the 141 lots on the golf course, homeowners are guaranteed a prime choice of golf course real estate. Priced from the $200,000s, homeowners have a choice of 18 pre-approved home plans to choose from. Custom designs are also welcome, but must be approved by an architectural review board.

Children that reside in Quail Run and Riverside Estates attend schools in Chambers County including: Huguley Elementary, W.F. Burns Junior High School and Valley High School. The Springwood School, an independent, K-12 co-educational college preparatory day school is also conveniently located adjacent to Riverside Estates in Lanett, Ala., which is only a short drive from Quail Run.

For more information about Quail Run or Riverside Estates, visit www.gvghome.com or contact Drew Rennolds at 334-499-4190 or by email at drennolds@gvghome.com.

About GVG:
Greater Valley Group is a real estate development company dedicated to building beautiful neighborhoods, recruiting desirable retail and improving an already excellent quality of life in the counties and communities of east Alabama and west Georgia near West Point Lake and the recently opened Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia (KMMG) plant in West Point. With $195 million in residential and commercial projects already underway, GVG is investing in the future, providing quality jobs and creating a desirable destination for permanent relocation for active retirees, industrial workers, executives, professionals, families and students. For more information on Greater Valley Group, LLC, please visit www.GVGHold.com.

Help and prayers needed for local soldier and family

Fayette County, Georgia: Daniel Berschinski, First Lieutenant and Platoon Leader in the First Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment Fifth Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division in the U.S. Army, was seriously wounded August 17, 2009, while serving our country in Afghanistan. Lt. Berschinski is currently recuperating from numerous injuries at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington , D.C.

Daniel graduated from McIntosh High School in 2002 and from West Point in 2007. He is an Eagle Scout from Peachtree City 's Troop 175. The Berschinski family has lived in Peachtree City for 17 years. Rob, his older brother, is a civilian working in the Office of the Secretary of Defense in Washington, D.C. His parents, Bob and Susan, are local business owners. Many of you may remember Susan as a Booth Middle School teacher.

Please join us in showing the Berschinski family how much we appreciate their being a vital part of this community and that we are here to love and support them today and in the future.

Gifts can be in the form of cash, check or charge. Please address all gifts to the Benefit of Daniel M. Berschinski. You can directly deposit your gifts at any Bank of Upson, Meriweather Bank and Trust or at SouthCrest Bank in Tyrone at -on Highway 74 across from the South Hampton Publix shopping center. If you would like to mail your gift, please mail it to: 105 St. Stephens Court, Suite A, Tyrone, GA 30290.

Any funds not utilized by the Berschinski Family will be donated to the Wounded Warrior Project.

- rec'd via the Southern Crescent Tea Party Patriots (www.ptcteapartypatriots.org)

Note: On a personal note, I've known Bob and Susan for many, many years. They have given much to the community and to many individuals. My heart goes out to them as they hurt with their child and work to do everything they can to help him heal. I encourage everyone reading this to reach out to help in some manner based on your familiarity with the Berschinski family, your belief in helping a neighbor, or your concern for our soldiers. - Janet McGregor Dunn

West Point Class of 2009 a Diverse, Impressive Group

Under the grey skies of West Point today, the "Long Grey Line," made up of a diverse and impressive group of graduating cadets, said goodbye to academic studies and turned their sights toward the business of soldiering.

"Four years ago you dropped your son or daughter off on these grounds with no shortage of pride, as well as anxiety, about the famed rigors of the U.S. Military Academy, about the known dangers that come with the profession of arms at this time. said Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who delivered the commencement address.

"That pride was well founded, the anxiety hopefully at least partially relieved," he added. "And I thank you for everything you have done to make them the outstanding young people they are," he added.

Outstanding may be an understatement.

The class includes eight Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars, a Gates Cambridge Scholar, a Rhodes Scholar and two East/West Center Fellows. In addition, 28 members of the graduating class earned recognition as Honor Graduates. The award reflects overall excellence in cadet performance, including academic, military and physical.

This year 50 Superintendent's Awards for Excellence were presented to the cadets in the top 5 percent of the class. Another 150 cadets were earned the Superintendent's Award for Achievement, and 172 received recognition for earning a GPA of 3.67.

The class itself is a picture of diversity.

Of the 970 cadets, 144 are women, 63 African Americans, 62 Asian/Pacific Islanders, 74 Hispanics and 15 Native Americans. The majority of the class, which also includes 17 foreign students, were commissioned second lieutenants.

The 17 students represent Afghanistan, Belize, Brunei, Bulgaria, Chad, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Maldives, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Tunisia, and will return to their nations for service.

These graduating cadets represent 78 percent of the cadets who entered West Point in the fall of 2004.

Gates, who lauded the cadets for their courage, commitment and "patriotism of the highest order," also realized the secondary mission of the day. No matter the caliber of the cadets, the after-commencement party is a key tradition. But there was one important piece of business to take care of first.

"To the graduating class of 2009, congratulations!" he said. "Let me dispense with the easy and fun part first, which is, on behalf of our commander in chief, to grant full amnesty for any minor conduct offenses.

"I will leave the definition of "minor" to the superintendent," he chuckled.

The new soldiers will now move on to their first assignments that will make them a part of every unit from infantry to aviation.

When the ceremony concluded Gates pinned second lieutenant's bars on more than a dozen newly minted Army junior officers.

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
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U.S. Military Academy at West Point Launches 'Center for Oral History,' an Archive of Soldier Experiences

U.S. Military Academy at West Point Launches 'Center for Oral History,' an Archive of Soldier Experiences, from Oldest Living Vets to Troops Returning From Iraq and Afghanistan

/PRNewswire/ -- The United States Military Academy at West Point, whose graduates are commissioned 2nd Lieutenants in the U.S. Army, has launched an ambitious Center for Oral History to serve as a living archive on the experiences of American soldiers in war and peace. The Center aims to be a powerful learning tool for West Point cadets and an important research center for historians, as well as a destination for the public to gain greater understanding of the essential and unique calling of the U.S. soldier.

The Center for Oral History, which is supported entirely by donated funds, will exist largely online, with high-definition video and digital audio files, easing access for everyone from campus cadets to scholars, journalists and interested students half a world away. A preview of the site -- including a 12-minute video with excerpts of soldier interviews -- can be seen by linking here: http://www.westpointcoh.org/.

One of the Center's first projects has been to interview members of West Point's Class of 1967, who, upon graduation, were sent almost immediately to the war in Vietnam. Another has been to interview soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of a comprehensive, anecdotal account of those current campaigns. Researchers are also gathering material from veterans of World War II, Vietnam and the so-called "forgotten war" in Korea. By definition, the Center will be a work in perpetual progress, continuously updated as history unfolds.

The objective is to assemble an unrivaled video, audio and text record of military life -- in the field, as well as in the classroom and also the "war room," since the Center hopes to include interviews with senior Pentagon strategists and former Secretaries of Defense and State who have helped shape military and foreign policy.

But its core mission is to capture the personal narratives of those who have lived the military life. As stated on the Center's home page: "Every solider has a story. Here is where the story is told."

In one vivid excerpt, Lt. Col. Greg Gadson, West Point Class of 1989, recalls the explosion in Iraq that cost him both of his legs: "I saw the flash and I heard the boom and I was ejected from the vehicle. It really is almost like time slows down. I can remember being tossed around inside the vehicle and landing on the ground. That's when time went back to normal, as I came to a rolling stop and I saw the vehicle continue forward."

Other early video segments capture testimony of the many competing observations and feelings unique to soldiering. Marshall Carter, West Point Class of 1962, who went on to become chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, remembers being on one of 12 helicopters hit by enemy fire trying to land in a Vietnam combat zone. Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Farrell, Class of 1986, recalls facing an insurgent on the streets of Iraq and having to seek permission from a superior officer to "kill this individual to neutralize the threat."

At the same time, interviews dispel any knee-jerk notion of soldiers numb to the moral issues they confront. As one cadet recalls of his own tense confrontation in Iraq, "A big part of my job at that moment is not to freak out -- not to emotionally fall apart." Another admits of his time in combat: "Think about what your moral compass is -- because you will be challenged with situations that are morally, ethically gray."

Early interviews also reveal the unshakable sense of duty that West Point cadets carry into battle. Jim Kimsey, Class of 1962, who later co-founded AOL, describes the feeling: "The best lesson I learned was on the first day I arrived at the Academy. They told me immediately that there were three answers to every question -- 'Yes, sir; No, sir; No excuse, sir.' You were responsible for your own actions. If you're a platoon leader and you're leading your platoon up a hill and you get half your guys killed, and you're writing letters to their mothers about why they died, there's no excuse. You got them killed."

General Petraeus Comments

Among those welcoming the new Center is General David Petraeus, a 1974 graduate of the Academy who recently assumed his new post as Commander of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) after having served as Commanding General of the Multi-National Force in Iraq.

"Our Army has a proud history, one that is chronicled in innumerable books and films. This Center aims to record our Army's history in a different way, through the personal oral histories of our soldiers captured by thorough, thoughtful interviews," General Petraeus said.

"It is exciting to think what will be preserved for posterity by this endeavor. It will capture moments of introspection by our soldiers, personal recollections of the tragedies and triumphs of combat. I applaud the Center for Oral History's effort to expand our nation's repository of spoken history by recording the experiences of American soldiers from World War II to Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. This is an exciting prospect."

Bridging the Gap between Soldier and Civilian

"In the best West Point tradition, we hope our recorded interviews will speak directly to the soldiers of tomorrow, preparing them for battlefields they might find themselves on," said the Center's director, Todd Brewster. "They will be a primary source archive for historians -- and just as important, for the general public. Ever since the U.S. instituted a volunteer Army, there has been a growing gap in perspective between soldiers and the public whom they defend and represent. An easily accessible archive of soldiers' stories will go a long way toward reconciling the cultural and occupational divide between soldier and civilian."

Mr. Brewster, a veteran journalist who has written for Time, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Life and The New Republic, has also taught journalism, documentary film and constitutional law at Yale and Wesleyan. He co-wrote, along with the late ABC News anchor Peter Jennings, the best-selling books In Search of America and The Century, the latter a look at the 20th century through oral histories of Americans both prominent and unsung. He also served as an ABC News senior producer for two award-winning documentary series based upon the books he wrote with Mr. Jennings.

"Imagine if we had had an oral history center in 1802, when West Point was founded and the first class of cadets arrived," Mr. Brewster suggested. "Or if we had one during the Civil War, with stories from the armies of Grant and Lee; or from Pershing in World War I; or Eisenhower and MacArthur."

"Eyewitness accounts are among the most riveting and telling parts of any history, but especially those surrounding armed conflict," he added. "Very few non-soldiers have been through the heat of battle. Soldiers' personal stories are a largely untapped mine of military insight and historical testimony."

Serving as the Center's deputy director is Dr. Patrick Jennings, a military historian and former U.S. Marine who as an Army National Guardsman was deployed as a combat historian on three separate tours to both Iraq and Afghanistan, conducting interviews with hundreds of combat soldiers and officers. Dr. Jennings also served as a field historian for the Army at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

Noted Advisory Board Includes Military Scholars, Journalists

The Center has the benefit of a Board of Advisors composed of military scholars, journalists, government officials and filmmakers to help set its agenda, develop new projects and content, and assist with fund-raising.

In addition to a number of tenured and well-published military historians from around the country, board members include Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Brent Scowcroft, a 1947 West Point graduate whose long government career included serving as National Security Advisor to Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush; Rick Atkinson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the Washington Post and author of several major accounts of American wars, including The Long Gray Line and An Army at Dawn; Martha Raddatz, longtime correspondent for ABC News, who covered the Pentagon for National Public Radio and authored The Long Road Home (2007), the account of a surprise attack on the Army's First Calvary Division in Iraq; and Ken Burns, whose opus The Civil War heralded a new standard for multi-part documentaries, which he followed with Baseball, Jazz and The War.

Ken Burns: "Recording Memories of Those Who Were There"

Mr. Burns offered his views on the launch of the Center as a filmmaker who frequently makes use of oral history interviews. "One of the motivations behind my most recent film, The War, was the realization that the World War II generation was passing away. I felt we needed to capture the words of those that fought in that war before it was too late. West Point's new Center for Oral History is a venture inspired by a similar passion for recording the memories of those who were there -- whether 'there' meant Normandy, Saigon, or the streets of Baghdad," Mr. Burns said.

"As this important archive is built, it will stand as poetic testimony to the idea that wars are fought not only by the armies of strong nations, they are also fought by men and women whose stories are rich with the fabric of life," he added. "Oral history is about fear and courage, tragedy and triumph, without it history itself is incomplete."

COH Joins Centers for Terrorism and Study of the Rule of Law

Much of the credit for creating the Center goes to Col. Lance Betros, who took over as head of West Point's history department in 2005 and marshaled resources to secure initial funding and recruited senior faculty to help develop some of the early content.

The COH joins two other Centers of Excellence on the West Point campus -- the Combating Terrorism Center and the Center for the Rule of Law. Each is independently funded and was developed to expand cadets' academic opportunities without adding to the Academy's curricular budget.

"It's a great privilege to formally launch our new oral history initiative as part of the overall program for intellectual and professional development of cadets," Col. Betros said. "West Point is obviously in a unique position to be able to tap into the experiences and insights of America's military leadership, starting with 1,000 or so cadet-lieutenants who graduate from our campus every year. The archive we're creating with our oral histories will span several generations of American soldiering, and in many instances provide the real back stories to headline events from the world's hot spots. These interviews offer a truly rare perspective on our collective history in the making."

Col. Betros added, "We are particularly fortunate in our choice of professionals to lead the Center, including Todd Brewster, a veteran journalist who brings a strong commitment to editorial integrity along with a feel for the individual stories that shape historical events and Patrick Jennings, a distinguished field historian as well as a former Marine and Army Guardsman with operational experience around the world, and Todd, who has managed a number of large-scale documentary projects, has also helped assemble a first-rate advisory board to help us on all aspects of our mission."

Col. Betros noted that the Center arrives as the use of oral history plays an increasing role in mainstream teaching. For instance, Columbia University this fall launched the country's first accredited master's degree program in oral history -- a one-year multi-disciplinary program focused on the "documentation, preservation and interpretation of historical information based on personal experiences."

Revisiting Vietnam War with West Point Class of '67

The Center will develop projects devoted to different aspects of soldiers' lives -- as well as different eras in soldiering. One of the highlights is that compilation of interviews with members of the West Point Class of 1967, young officers who entered active duty at a pivotal time in the Vietnam War and later returned to steer the Army's course on behalf of a nation reeling from social unrest and political scandal.

Other subjects expected to be tackled through the Center's oral histories:

-- Wartime decisions of former Secretaries of Defense, State, and the
Army, along with key members of Congress;
-- The place of religious faith in soldiers' lives;
-- Case studies on insurgency, bioterrorism, the surge in Iraq and other
topical subjects of warfare based on cross-section interviews with
returning troops, military leaders and policy makers;
-- The historic role of athletics among West Point cadets, through
interviews with soldier-athletes and former coaches of the legendary
Army football team and other sports teams, many of whose players went
on to illustrious professional sports careers;
-- Retrospective views on World War I, the Civil War and other major
American conflicts offered by visiting historians and West Point's
faculty;
-- Contemporary social changes as experienced at West Point itself,
through oral histories with the Academy's former superintendents,
deans, commandants, cadets, and others.


Also in the works are publishing and broadcasting projects based on the rich lode of content the Center gathers. Discussions are underway with the renowned Fred Friendly Seminars, whose charged situational debates have been broadcast on PBS. Mr. Brewster is working to develop a Fred Friendly program at West Point to take on the subject of fighting insurgencies, bringing together a hypothetical cast of players ranging from the President and Secretary of Defense to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a policy maven and even a White House press officer.

Offering "Witness to History" Accounts

"There are days that are just gut-wrenchingly hard, and you say, 'Can I make a difference? Why do I keep doing this?' When you look at history, and at people who endured and sacrificed, you say, 'Yes, you can: you can make a difference.' Oral history helps us with that." Brig. Gen. Rebecca Halstead, West Point Class of 1981.

In hoping to draw maximum traffic and general interest users in addition to scholars, the Center will utilize universal search technology so that anyone searching the web for primary source interviews with veterans and soldiers will see links to the West Point content. Like a true archive, the site will have virtual rooms and chapters dedicated to certain subjects and periods in military history, from the Civil War to Vietnam and Iraq. Links to other web sites offering veterans' interviews will also be provided. The oral histories will be integrated into West Point's own curriculum, so that professors can easily draw from interviews as part of their own course materials.

"Our new Center offers so many benefits both on and off campus, allowing our cadets as well as researchers around the world quick access to the witness-to-history accounts of soldiers of all ranks and service branches, as far back as we are able to find and going forward with the march of time," said Lt. Gen. Franklin Hagenbeck, West Point's superintendent. Gen. Hagenbeck is featured in a twelve-minute video introducing the Center in which he acknowledges his own hard choices in combat: "I've been in situations," he says in an interview, "that have caused me to send lots of soldiers in harm's way."

"Of course, we all have our wish list of hearing from soldiers who would offer fascinating insights on how they coped, how they pressed on, and perhaps where they hesitated," Gen. Hagenbeck continued. "West Point has so had so many distinguished graduates in its 206-year history. I would like to have heard from one of my favorites, Ulysses S. Grant. In the future, our cadets will have the opportunity to hear directly from their peers and their mentors through this rich lode of oral histories."

The Center for Oral History web site is being developed by HUGE, a leading interactive design agency with that has developed online presences for such major brands as JetBlue Airways, IKEA, Warner Music, The Street.com, and Time, Inc.

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Geren Urges Graduating Cadets to Take Care of Soldiers

The core of the U.S. Army is its responsibility to take care of its soldiers, Army Secretary Pete Geren told the graduating class at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., today (May 31, 2008).

Geren spoke to the 972 members of the West Point Class of 2008 at Michie Stadium in the academy's 210th graduation since its founding in 1802.

"Regardless of how long you wear the uniform, one thing will never change. You are a leader and the well-being of soldiers will be in your hands," Geren said. "You'll be judged by how you discharge that duty. For if you strip away everything else about the Army, at its core, that's what the Army is all about: soldiers taking care of soldiers."

Geren called today's Army different from any other in history. It is an all-volunteer force, more than half of its soldiers are married, and there are 700,000 children within its military family ranks.

"The all-volunteer force is a national treasure, but it can't be squandered. To sustain our Army, we must provide Army families with a quality of life equal to their service," the secretary said. "As Army leaders, you must take care of Army families."

Geren borrowed from the writings of former U.S. presidents Thomas Jefferson and John F. Kennedy to parallel the threats facing the country today and to outline the challenges the graduating cadets will face in their careers.

He said Jefferson -- the founder of West Point, principal author of the Declaration of Independence and staunch supporter of religious freedom -- would understand the threat posed today by tyranny in the name of religion. Jefferson devoted much of his work to the advancement of liberty and religious freedom and considered his contributions to the cause of religious freedom among his greatest accomplishments.

"Jefferson's ideal of religious freedom and individual liberty stands in stark contrast to the malignant vision of religious oppression and the murderous practices of the Taliban and al-Qaida, to the hatred that murdered 3,000 people on 9/11 and continues its butchery today," Geren said. "Your sons and daughters, our soldiers, stand against a threat to liberty and life that is as old as civilization and a cause that shaped the foundation of our nation."

Geren said the cadets are entering a dynamic period of service and warfare. He borrowed from a 1962 speech by Kennedy to graduates at West Point. His comments, made as America was being drawn into the war in Vietnam, mirror the challenges troops face now in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Your military responsibilities will require a versatility and an adaptability never before required in either war or peace,'" Geren read from Kennedy's speech. "This is another type of war -- war by guerrillas, subversives, insurgents, and assassins -- war by ambush instead of combat, seeking victory by eroding and exhausting us rather than engaging us."

Kennedy's speech predicted their service would include commanding traditional forces in less traditional roles, and risking their lives not as combatants, but as instructors and advisors. Their service would require an understanding of foreign policy and military power, and they would give orders in different languages.

"Your posture and your performance will provide the local population with the only evidence of what our country is really like," Geren read from the 35th president's remarks.

The secretary said the mission of the United States military, then as now, goes beyond the security of its own citizens.

"The United States has always stood as a beacon of hope for those yearning to be free," he said. In the past six years, he noted, the U.S. military has liberated 50 million people in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Geren heralded the graduates for their choice of serving in the military over attending other educational institutions and pursuing civilian careers. They could have gone into private business and on to lucrative job offers, but instead chose the path of duty, honor and country, he told the families in attendance.

"The service our nation is asking of your sons and daughters is important work for our country, for the free world, for liberty loving people everywhere," Geren said. "It will change our nation, and it will change our world for the better."

Geren also pointed out the personal risk in the graduates' chosen profession. Eleven previous West Point graduates have died in the past year in combat, he noted.

"There's always a personal cost in your profession of arms. It is your willingness to bear that cost that ennobles you, your calling and this gathering," he said.

It is in their deaths, though, that the American soldier has built the foundations for the country today, Geren said.

"It is Arlington [National Cemetery] -- not the monuments, malls and memorials -- that tells the story of our nation," he said. "Were it not for that transcendent ideal that has inspired the American soldier on many a weary march, from dripping dusk to drizzling dawn, there would be no monuments, no Capitol and no mall."

It is that same transcendent ideal that calls out to people the world over who yearn to be free, -- "a transcendent ideal that led these men and women of the class of 2008 to choose to be soldiers -- American soldiers -- for the America at war," Geren said.

By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service