news-record.com

Did you ever wear a Prisoner of War or Missing in Action bracelet — those aluminum cuffs that bore the name of a lost soldier and the date he or she was captured or went missing?

Back in the 1960s and ’70s, those bracelets helped us keep the missing close to our hearts and in our prayers for safe returns.
Thanks to a local business, we again can wear metal bands to keep our heroes close to our hearts and constantly in our prayers.

Today those cuffs are known as memorial bracelets. Tomi Watson, owner of Capitol Medals at 108 Chestnut Drive in High Point, has found a new calling as she and her staff have made hundreds of bracelets to honor heroes today.

It all started about a year ago when Watson’s stepson Troy Watson was stationed with the Army in Iraq. He wanted to have bracelets made for the people in his battalion. Sure, websites offered memorial bracelets, but you had to order large quantities, and personalization wasn’t simple. So Troy got in touch with his stepmother who has owned the trophy and engraving business for a little more than three years.

“He wanted to do a bracelet for each of the people in his immediate group. He sent me a list, and we made a bracelet for each of them,” Tomi Watson remembers. The 69 black anodized aluminum bracelets bear the inscription “Operation Iraqi Freedom 2008-2009. HHC 299th BSB CSD PLT “Smokin’ Aces.”

Inside each bracelet was the name of a member of the battalion.

As a civilian, I have little clue as to what those battalion letters and numbers represent. But I know what they mean. They mean solidarity.

“The members of Troy’s battalion were so appreciative. The bracelets symbolized being together,” Tomi Watson says. “That was our entry into memorial bracelets.”

Soon after making the bracelets for her stepson, Tomi Watson was watching the news and learned about the Triad Flight of Honor, a movement spearheaded by Rotary District 7690 in Kernersville to send local veterans to Washington to see the National World War II Memorial built to honor them.

She still gets emotional when she recalls how the story inspired her. “I found the contact person for Triad Flight of Honor and said we could do memorial bands as a service for them.” Yes, a memorial band for each veteran who made the Flight of Honor.

To date, Tomi Watson and her staff have made 300 memorial bands — one for each veteran making the trip with Triad Flights of Honor. The bands are inscribed with “Flight of Honor” and the date of the flight along with the American flag. Inside each band is the veteran’s name. Orders for 300 additional bands are in place, and everyone at Capitol Medals gets involved in the production.

And yes, they do this for free.

Tomi Watson takes the orders and gets the names of each veteran going on the flight.

Buddy Russell cuts the bracelets from large sheets of anodized aluminum and rounds the corners of the cuffs.

Before Russell, Navy veteran Howard Wallace held down this part of the bracelet-making process, but health problems forced him to leave his job last spring.

Rusty Phipps engraves the metal for each bracelet.

The flat metal bands then go back to Russell to be rolled into bracelet form.

Finally, Russell and Marsha Gobble package the bracelets, carefully organizing them in alphabetical order so the distribution will go smoothly.

“The effort that goes into this is truly an honor,” Tomi Watson explains.

While the folks at Capitol Medals have given away many more bracelets than they have sold, local sales are growing, and with each one comes a story from the heart.

One police officer had a bracelet made up to honor four fallen colleagues. His bracelet was inscribed “Heroes Live Forever,” adorned with a thin blue line and inscribed with the names of his colleagues inside the bracelet.

Another police officer had two “thin blue line” bracelets made that included his own information and gave one to each of his daughters. Another police officer had a similar bracelet made for his girlfriend.

Paul Lessard of High Point ordered 15 bracelets for his family to wear in honor of his nephew Tyler Folan.

“I come from a Marine Corps family — I was fourth generation. My nephew Tyler was getting commissioned a 2nd lieutenant, and I made the bracelets for my whole family that had his name, rank and a quote: 'Always faithful.’ He’ll be heading over to Afghanistan soon, and I wanted him to know that we were thinking of him and praying for him daily. They were a really big hit.”

Regardless of what they say, these bracelets all symbolize solidarity.
The bracelets are $10 for a band engraved on one side and $12 when engraved on the outer and inner surfaces.

But the unity that comes with each of these memorial bands is, shall we say, priceless.

Contact Cathy Weaver at CWeaverNR@gmail.com.