Fundraiser held to benefit soldier

Members of Harlem's Veterans of Foreign Wars post are thanking an injured Thomson soldier by holding a fundraiser to help his family.

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The Ladies Auxiliary of VFW Columbia County Memorial Post 6445 is holding a barbecue chicken dinner Saturday at the post on Wrightsboro Road to assist the family of Pfc. Darryl Wallace.

The 23-year-old McDuffie County man was critically injured June 9 while he was serving in Afghanistan. Wallace lost his right leg from the knee down and his left foot when the Hummer he was driving hit an improvised explosive device.

"That's what the VFW was set up for, to take care of our men and women that take care of us," said Melissa McGrotha, the president of the post Ladies Auxiliary.

Wallace is in the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C., where his wife, Tiffany, and 2-year-old son, Chase, are staying with him.

Wallace likely will be in Washington, D.C., about a year for surgeries and rehabilitation, McGrotha said after recently speaking with Wallace's wife.

Because Wallace's medical care is being taken care of by the military, proceeds from the barbecue will go to Wallace's wife for travel or household expenses, McGrotha said.

"He's one of our wounded soldiers and he's local and whatever we can help the family out with, that's what we intend on doing," McGrotha said.

She said Wallace's injury hit home as her brother recently returned to the country from deployment.

"It means a lot to us that he put himself out there," McGrotha said.

Barbecue plates including chicken, baked beans, potato salad, pound cake and a drink will be sold for $6 each beginning at noon until all the chicken has been sold, which should be mid-to-late afternoon, McGrotha said. The post is located on Wrightsboro Road a half mile west of Pumpkin Center.

To place an order or for more information, call the VFW post at (706) 556-9194, Sandra Threlkeld at (706) 541-0502 or Barbara Coleman at (706) 541-1868.