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Small town has a big hero

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Earon Brown
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  Between exits 18 to 22 of the United States oldest interstate highway, I-95, is the town of Ridgeland, S.C. With a population of roughly 4,000, Ridgeland is the birthplace of two generals who have had a impact in many ways.
 
On Sept. 13, the citizens of Ridgeland and Jasper County came together to recognize one of those men, U.S. Air Force Gen. Lloyd "Fig" Newton.
 
The ceremony followed years of collaboration and coordination between the city of Ridgeland, Jasper County, and the South Carolina General Assembly and Department of Transportation and resulted in the unveiling of the new I-95 exit 21, now named "General Lloyd W. 'Fig' Newton Interchange."

Against a backdrop of Ridgeland's nature center and economic development area, locals, and visitors, gathered to pay homage to the general and recognize his accomplishments.
 
The event also included a military recognition, featuring a presentation of the state flag by Jasper High School's Marine Corps JROTC, a saber detail from the Shaw AFB Honor Guard, and music provided by the Parris Island Marine Corps Band.

"We started talking about this in late 2008," said retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gary Hodges, former mayor of Ridgeland. "We went through a grueling process of a couple years.

We couldn't figure out was big enough to match general Newton's accomplishments."
That thought process would ultimately culminate in the decision to have exit 21 off I-95 honor Gen. Newton.

"We've got the number one interchange in the county here in the heart of Ridgeland," said Hodges. "We have a traffic count of about 40,000 vehicles a day coming through town and that equates to about 60,000 to 70,000 people. We wanted to honor the general, but we also want people to know the General is from here. We put that all together and took it back to the county council."

"The town of Ridgeland sent me a letter saying they wanted to have exit 21 named after Gen. Newton," said Clementa Pinckney, South Carolina State Senator representing district 45. "My colleagues and I wanted to do it to honor one of our own, a general born here in Jasper County. It's a proud day for all of us."

"We normally don't name a lot of exits, so every (proposal) you have to weigh who it's going to be named after, so it's really an honor," added Pinckney.

The resolution from Jasper County presented much of Gen. Newton's distinguished career and named him a, "great son of South Carolina."
 
Part of that distinguished career included flying 269 combat missions from Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam, including 79 missions over North Vietnam. In 1974, he was the first African American selected to join the United States Air Force's aerial demonstration squadron, the Thunderbirds.

As a command pilot with more than 4,000 flying hours in the T-37, T-38, F-4, F-15, F-16, C-12 and F-117, General Newton held numerous staff positions and commanded three wings and an air division and Air Education and Training Command.

"In his entire career and even to this day, 12 years after he's retired, everywhere he goes he promotes the town of Ridgeland and Jasper County," said Hodges. "He talks about his hometown and county and tells us what a great thing it was to come from to this community. We wanted to do something to appropriately honor Gen. Newton."

"It's been a wonderful event," said Pinckney. "To honor a citizen is wonderful, but to honor one who's done so much and served his country so extraordinarily well, it's an inspiration. I hope that it will inspire all people in our area and county to do well."

"It's a good (story) for America in general," added Hodges. "It doesn't matter where you start, it's about where you end up. Every time he speaks, he always gives credit to a lot of other people, but in the end he had the right stuff, and that's what it amounts to."

The newly named interchange and its accompanying signs now stand on I-95 representing both the retired Air Force general and the small town he hails from.

"Thousands and thousands of people are going to know from this day forward, that General "Fig" Newton is from here and that's what we we're after," Hodges concluded. "He certainly deserves it."