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A banner honoring Army veteran Kenneth Andersen hangs in downtown Fountain Inn, S.C. Conor Hughes/staff
A banner honors J. Lynn "Snab" Stenhouse Jr., a draftee from Fountain Inn, S.C., killed in Vietnam, along the city's Main Street. Conor Hughes/staff
Laura Wedell-Jenkins goes through banners honoring Fountain Inn's veterans in the Fountain Inn museum the night before they're displayed in the city's downtown. Conor Hughes/staff
Renee Sherbert stands in front of a banner honoring her late husband and military veteran Harold Sherbert in downtown Fountain Inn, S.C.
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A banner honoring Army veteran Kenneth Andersen hangs in downtown Fountain Inn, S.C. Conor Hughes/staff
FOUNTAIN INN — J. Lynn "Snab" Stenhouse Jr. looks out from the banner from behind a pair of thick-rimmed glasses, squared away in the cap and jacket of his class A uniform. The black and white photo, taken shortly after he was drafted, is bordered in gold, the words, "Army, Private First Class, Vietnam," printed just below.
Even for a 20-year-old, Stenhouse's cheeks bear an impossible shine and smoothness, a byproduct of the digital editing needed to enlarge the 1969 obituary photo for the banner that now hangs from a lamp post in downtown Fountain Inn.
Stenhouse, who was killed in action just seven months after he was drafted, is one of 31 veterans whose names and portraits are now on display along the Upstate city's Main Street, an exhibition that will remain in place for two weeks in honor of those who served in the military, stretching back to World War II. Veterans Day is Nov. 11.
The display is a project Fountain Inn Museum board member Laura Wedell-Jenkins has been planning, off and on, since late last year when she learned of a similar exhibition in downtown Emporia, Kan., where Veterans Day was founded.
A banner honors J. Lynn "Snab" Stenhouse Jr., a draftee from Fountain Inn, S.C., killed in Vietnam, along the city's Main Street. Conor Hughes/staff
In September, she announced on social media that the banners were available in exchange for a $200 donation to the museum. All 30 slots were filled within one day.
In fact, Wedell-Jenkins decided to make room for one more when Carol Roper reached out to ask if her father could be included.
Roper's father, Don Limoges, died in December, succumbing to a combination of COVID-19 and chronic leukemia that doctors said was linked to his exposure to Agent Orange during his service in Vietnam. He would have turned 80 on Oct. 9 and Roper wanted to present the banner to her mother to mark his birthday.
But by the time she consulted with her siblings about purchasing the banner, all the slots were filled. She reached out to Wedell-Jenkins, who decided to make room when she learned more about the circumstances.
"I said, 'OK, you're off the waitlist,'" Wedell-Jenkins said. "They've just been crying happy tears this whole process."
Others purchased banners for their husbands, sons and friends.
Tiffany Sullivan decided to buy one for her friend and neighbor Mark Leverette, a former army captain, and surprise him with it Nov. 1 after the banners went up.
Renee Sherbert also made the trip into downtown Fountain Inn on Nov. 1 to see the banner her family purchased for her late husband, Harold Sherbert Sr. Between 1958 and 1997, Harold Sherbert served in the Army, the Marine Corps and the Air Force.
"And our son served in the Navy to round out that circle," she said with a smile.
He also served as a police officer in Fountain Inn before taking a job at the Mauldin Police Department, where he eventually became chief, a position he held until he retired in 2000.
He died in August 2020 at the age of 78.
On Nov. 1, Renee Sherbert drove from Mauldin to snap a few pictures of her late husband's banner, a fitting tribute, she said, to recognize his service to his country.
"It's just a great way to honor our veterans," she said. "I think it's a great thing they're doing and I think it's great for the city."
Laura Wedell-Jenkins goes through banners honoring Fountain Inn's veterans in the Fountain Inn museum the night before they're displayed in the city's downtown. Conor Hughes/staff
Unlike many of the other veterans honored along Main Street, Stenhouse has only a handful of family members left in the area. He was killed before he could start a family of his own, and his parents and siblings are no longer in Fountain Inn. But some of his first cousins remain in the city. The church he attended, Mt. Zion Baptist Church, still remembers his service.
Renee Sherbert stands in front of a banner honoring her late husband and military veteran Harold Sherbert in downtown Fountain Inn, S.C.
Emanuel Sullivan, a prominent coach and community leader in Fountain Inn, has attended Mt. Zion his entire life and said he can clearly remember the shockwaves Stenhouse's death sent through the congregation.
"It was devastating," he said. "He was really young when he went in, and he never did come back home alive."
His banner hung in the church for about three months before it went up in downtown.
In addition to the banners along Main Street, the Fountain Inn Museum is hosting a military exhibit and airing a documentary about a World War II prisoner of war from Fountain Inn.
Wedell-Jenkins, whose own father is honored in the downtown display, said the same banners will be hung in Fountain Inn for each of the next three years before they are given back to whoever commissioned them. Then, she said, the museum will accept a new list of 30 veterans.
"We're planning to keep growing it," she said. "We want other cities to see it and be jealous of the sense of community and pride Fountain Inn has in its veterans."
Follow Conor Hughes on Twitter at @ConorJHughes.
Conor Hughes is a reporter for the Post and Courier Greenville
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