Woman captures image of serviceman's family

Olivia Giachino grew up listening to her grandfather tell stories about his experiences in World War II, from landing in France less than a week after D-Day to fighting in the snow and cold of the Battle of the Bulge.

Then, in 2001, her mom, Sarah Giachino, found a large stack of letters Olivia's grandfather and grandmother had exchanged during the war.

The letters made his tales all the more real and, almost as important, reminded those who read them of the power of the written word on a simple piece of paper.

They inspired Sarah to create Fox Valley Troop Support, an organization that sends letters and care packages to members of our armed forces serving overseas.

And they helped inspire 23-year-old Olivia - a camera buff who fell in love with dark rooms during a high school photography class - to get involved, too.

It wasn't a surprise, then, that both Olivia and her mom were on hand in late August and early September to greet members of the Illinois Army National Guard 106th Cavalry Squadron when they came home from Afghanistan.

And it wasn't a surprise that Olivia captured countless images of the members of Charlie Troop as they were reunited with their families at a pair of welcoming celebrations at East Aurora High School.

Among those images was one that earned first-place honors in the Daily Herald's October photo contest - a heartwarming shot of a lieutenant greeting his two boys and his newborn son.

"It was something important for us back home to see," the St. Charles woman said. "It's something you can only express if you were there. I hoped I could capture the feeling I had at that moment and share it with everyone else."

DuPage Photo Director Scott Sanders said she did just that.

"I like it because it does a great job of capturing the joy of this soldier's homecoming and seeing his kids," he said. "It's a very good journalistic photo."

For her efforts, Giachino will receive a $50 gift certificate from PJ's Camera in Pickwick Place Plaza at 662 Roosevelt Road, Glen Ellyn.

It will come in handy because Giachino says she takes her trusty Olympus E510 everywhere she goes.

"It's just chilling in the back seat of my car," she said Wednesday after learning of her victory.

"I'm all about being behind the lens," she said.

She's also about reminding people about the sacrifices our troops make and, whenever possible, sharing her images of their homecomings.

"I tried to capture the moment," she said, "and to encourage people to attend a homecoming if they can."

She says she was newly inspired by recent Make a Difference Day events to try to reach out to her peers.

"I'm 23, and I really feel a lot of people my age support our troops but don't know how," she said.

Given her family's history, she's chosen to take much the same approach her grandparents used - with a slightly modern twist.

Instead of putting pen to paper, she's created a spot on Facebook to bring those people together and has written an open letter on the Fox Valley Troop Support Web site at www.fvts.org to invite people to participate.

"I do not care if you are a Democrat or Republican; a Jedi or a Trekkie; a Mac or a PC," she wrote.

"We can all agree on one thing: We have all been affected by today's war. Let's do this. Support them. They are our lunch buddies, our bathroom buddies, our lab partners, our wing men, our designated drivers, our friends."