South Carolina Women to Recognize and Honor America’s Medal of Honor Recipients
January 4, 2010
Luncheon will be attended by former first ladies and national celebrities
COLUMBIA, SC – January 4, 2010 – Women Honoring Valor, an initiative aimed at recognizing and honoring America’s living recipients of the Medal of Honor, and to raise awareness of the 2010 national Medal of Honor convention; will host a luncheon at the Columbia Convention Center (Lincoln Street in the Vista), noon, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010.
Among those scheduled to attend are S.C.’s former first ladies – Mrs. John C. West, Mrs. James B. Edwards, Mrs. David M. Beasley, and Mrs. Carroll A. Campbell, Jr. – WIS-TV’s Dawndy Mercer-Plank and Judi Gatson, Maj. Gen. Stan Spears (the adjutant general of S.C.), Dr. Belinda F. Gergel, S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal, former Congresswoman Elizabeth Johnston Liz Patterson, nationally recognized poet Kay B. Day, Emmy-award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author Rita Cosby, and at least three living recipients of the Medal of Honor.
Women Honoring Valor is hosted by the Medal of Honor Society’s 2010 Convention project, the Greater Columbia Marine Foundation, and a growing number of the ladies of S.C.
Proceeds from the Women Honoring Valor luncheon will go toward funding the Medal of Honor Society’s 2010 Convention, which will be held in Charleston, Sept. 29—Oct. 3.
“Women Honoring Valor is a vital initiative, not only for upcoming convention, but for the state and the nation, which is why there will be several nationally recognized personalities in attendance at this great event on Jan. 20,” says Brig. Gen. Eugene F. Rogers (S.C. Military Department), co-chairman of the Medal of Honor 2010 Convention project.
In addition to the Jan. 20 luncheon, there will be a formal signing of a “Declaration of Gratitude for our fighting men and women,” as well as comments by former FOX News and MSNBC host Rita Cosby, Medal of Honor recipient and U.S. Navy SEAL Michael E. Thornton, Chief Justice Toal, Dr. Gergel, and others.
