A recent visitor to the county manager’s office proved bonds formed through military service are often deeply meaningful and can last a lifetime. When fellow veteran Emanuel Mahand asked for Maddox, it was not business, but a matter of friendship.
“This guy here, we met in November 1988 in 2nd – 22nd INF Fort Drum and have been friends ever since,” Maddox says warmly. “We even served 10 years with his sister afterwards!”
Military service often fosters lifelong friendships due to the unique, shared experiences involved. Rigorous training, deployments and challenging situations can create a strong bond of loyalty and camaraderie that lasts a lifetime. That bond is evident between Mahand and Pierce’s county manager.
Mahand was the Supply NCO for HHC 2nd Battalion 22nd INF Fort Drum, NY. When Maddox arrived in November, 1988, Mahand did more than just the basic introductions.
“Mahand was the first soldier I met in my unit. He issued my barracks room, linens, weapon, etc. The very next day he came to my room and offered me a ride to PX and commissary (military grocery store) to go shopping since I didn’t have a car. We even drove to the Salmon Run Mall in Watertown, NY,” says Maddox. “When the weekend came, Mahand offered to take me to Canada. I asked him, like the country Canada? He was like yes, Kingston, Ontario. I was a country guy from Waycross and it was my first time visiting another country.”
Mahand was the sponsor for all newly arriving soldiers to the unit. A military sponsor is an individual assigned to assist a new service member and their family with settling into a new duty station.
They provide support, guidance and information to help ease the transition process. “Think of it as a friendly face and resource network available to help with everything from housing and childcare to navigating the local area,” Maddox explains. In this instance, duty fostered a strong bond that lasted over years and thousands of miles.
Sometimes those bonds manifested in unexpected ways. By way of example, Maddox fast forwards to 1995, “My wife and I arrived to Heidelberg Germany. Our sponsors were Sgt. Jerome Dummars and his civilian wife. Linda Dummars was my wife’s (Yolanda) sponsor.
“For two years our family attended Heidelberg Gospel Church Services. Yolanda and Linda both were choir members, and our children attended Sunday School together,” says Maddox.
“In late 1997, during a Thanksgiving Dinner, Linda Dummars received a telephone call and stated it was her brother from Greenville, AL. Yolanda and I said we had a military friend from Greenville: Emanuel Mahand. Mrs. Dummar’s reply: ‘That’s my brother!’” Asked who was the better soldier, Maddox says Mahand was the better of the two. “We both worked together with great leaders such as General Lloyd Austin, SFC Tim McClane and CSM Burnie Haley,” Maddox recalls, “But Emanuel was the first non-infantry soldier in our unit to qualify for Ranger School in Fort Benning.”
In the years since both retired from active service (2007 for Maddox, 2008 for Mahand), Mahand has visited Pierce County a few times. He says it reminds him of his hometown of Greenville. Whenever he is doing business or traveling in South GA, he calls on Maddox, and they have dinner in Blackshear. This time they broke bread together at local eatery Southern Roost, but thanks to a friendship forged by service to their country, it won’t be the last.
