Hometown street poles salute soldiers in war zones

SULLIVAN -- A drive around the small central Illinois town of Sullivan is a lesson in patriotism. The lamp posts and telephone poles on two streets are adorned with white signs bearing the names of local military members serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The effort started in 2004, and parents have updated the signs to keep pace with deployments. If someone comes home and then is redeployed, their name goes back up. Members of individual families are displayed on the same post.

More than 100 residents of this town of 4,400 have served in the current wars and dozens are still deployed.

The latest added was 21-year-old Marine Reservist A.J. Woodworth, bound for Afghanistan.

Kathy Woodworth says her son was a high school freshman when he watched the Sept. 11 attacks on television. As she hung his sign last week, Woodworth said that day seems so far away, "but to us, it's an everyday thing."

The town also supports its soldiers and their families with holiday care packages and a telephone tree to keep everyone informed if something happens.

"We all kind of met at the post office, sending our kids stuff. We started talking," said Marsha Thompson, 53, whose son John Booker served a tour in Iraq and now works on Chinook helicopters in Afghanistan.

The National Guard's Headquarters Co. of the 634th Brigade Support Battalion helps spouses of deployed soldiers complete taxes and other paperwork. But most of the support in town comes from families helping families.

"You've been there, done that," said Mike Shasteen, 63, whose son Jake went to Iraq with the Guard. "You know what they've been through."