thedrifter
12-13-05, 12:50 PM
December 19, 2005
Billboard campaign honors decorated Marine heroes
By John Hoellwarth
Times staff writer
Ever wonder what happened to that guy from high school? Motorists in Helena, Mont., don’t have that problem.
A billboard unveiled on Helena’s main drag Nov. 29 features Polson High School graduate Jonathan M. Ayersman. So what did he do? Joined the Corps, went to Iraq, earned a Bronze Star with “V” and came home a war hero.
The intent behind the initiative is simple — to give credit where credit is due. This means honoring heroes where the public is most likely to recognize them, in their hometowns. And the campaign, called Hometown Heroes, is something that recruiting officials want to spread across the nation.
“The billboard is in a good spot because it’s right on the main avenue in Helena,” Sgt. Ayersman said. “I was so very honored.”
“We’re recognizing the fact that there are heroes among us. American media widely verifies victims, but doesn’t recognize valor,” said Col. Arthur Corbett, 12th Marine Corps District commander. “To the degree that we become a society that better recognizes our heroes, we will produce more of them.”
Conventional wisdom suggests that Recruiting Command plus billboard equals advertisement. But district officials insist that the Hometown Heroes campaign is not an attempt to drum up enlistments. Instead, it is simply the Marine Corps announcing its position on the topic of heroism.
Ayersman’s former high school classmates likely won’t miss the point. His portrait is 10-feet high, and he’s in dress blues. To the left are the words, “His superior leadership and lethality of action broke the enemy’s resolve.”
There is no advertisement for the Corps, just a notice that the service endorses heroes, which is a bit of a no-brainer, right?
But leathernecks maintain there is genius in stating the obvious. Even though 12th District does not anticipate a spike in contracting numbers because of the initiative, Corbett said that “if the American public associates heroes and Marines, obviously that’s a good thing.”
Though Ayersman’s billboard is the only one of its kind, 12th District’s marketing officer, Capt. Sean Peterson, said plans are in the works to lionize hometown heroes in San Diego, San Francisco and Sacramento, Calif.
As of the first week of November, 615 Marines had received either the Bronze Star, the Silver Star or the Navy Cross for valor in combat since Sept. 11, 2001, meaning there are plenty of cities across America where heroes were born. Corbett foresees billboards in all of them and then some.
He’d even like the initiative to expand past Marines, eventually recognizing local heroes of all types, such as teachers, firefighters and ordinary citizens who do extraordinary things. The Corps will endorse all of these, he said.
“I’m the commander of a small district in a large country. We’re looking to validate a good idea in our small district and fan the flames around this good idea,” Corbett said. “I would like to see this become like Toys for Tots, where the Corps is the sponsor, but that the weight of the good idea carries it forward to the local communities everywhere. I see local people contacting the Corps to say ‘we’ve got a nominee’ and the Corps makes the necessary arrangements.”
Corbett and Peterson said they are keeping a close eye on the initiative, compiling lessons learned from the process of gaining community participation that made the billboard possible.
Corbett said he couldn’t count on other communities to match Helena’s support — Lamar Outdoor Advertising donated the billboard space — but that honoring deserving heroes still comes at very little expense.
Montana Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger, a Marine veteran, was on hand during the unveiling of Ayersman’s billboard in the state’s capital city and issued what his spokesman later called a challenge for other states to embrace their heroes as well.
“Today, we in Helena and across the great state of Montana thank Sergeant Ayersman for his dedication, service and valor. We are proud to start the tradition of honoring valor. We hope to see this in each state of our nation,” he said.
Sgt. Tisha Carter-Valrie, the local recruiting station’s sole public affairs Marine — who organized the community participation, secured the help of Lamar Outdoor Advertising and enlisted the support of the lieutenant governor — said the firm contacted her Dec. 1 to say it would pay to replicate the billboard and display it across the state.
Ellie
Billboard campaign honors decorated Marine heroes
By John Hoellwarth
Times staff writer
Ever wonder what happened to that guy from high school? Motorists in Helena, Mont., don’t have that problem.
A billboard unveiled on Helena’s main drag Nov. 29 features Polson High School graduate Jonathan M. Ayersman. So what did he do? Joined the Corps, went to Iraq, earned a Bronze Star with “V” and came home a war hero.
The intent behind the initiative is simple — to give credit where credit is due. This means honoring heroes where the public is most likely to recognize them, in their hometowns. And the campaign, called Hometown Heroes, is something that recruiting officials want to spread across the nation.
“The billboard is in a good spot because it’s right on the main avenue in Helena,” Sgt. Ayersman said. “I was so very honored.”
“We’re recognizing the fact that there are heroes among us. American media widely verifies victims, but doesn’t recognize valor,” said Col. Arthur Corbett, 12th Marine Corps District commander. “To the degree that we become a society that better recognizes our heroes, we will produce more of them.”
Conventional wisdom suggests that Recruiting Command plus billboard equals advertisement. But district officials insist that the Hometown Heroes campaign is not an attempt to drum up enlistments. Instead, it is simply the Marine Corps announcing its position on the topic of heroism.
Ayersman’s former high school classmates likely won’t miss the point. His portrait is 10-feet high, and he’s in dress blues. To the left are the words, “His superior leadership and lethality of action broke the enemy’s resolve.”
There is no advertisement for the Corps, just a notice that the service endorses heroes, which is a bit of a no-brainer, right?
But leathernecks maintain there is genius in stating the obvious. Even though 12th District does not anticipate a spike in contracting numbers because of the initiative, Corbett said that “if the American public associates heroes and Marines, obviously that’s a good thing.”
Though Ayersman’s billboard is the only one of its kind, 12th District’s marketing officer, Capt. Sean Peterson, said plans are in the works to lionize hometown heroes in San Diego, San Francisco and Sacramento, Calif.
As of the first week of November, 615 Marines had received either the Bronze Star, the Silver Star or the Navy Cross for valor in combat since Sept. 11, 2001, meaning there are plenty of cities across America where heroes were born. Corbett foresees billboards in all of them and then some.
He’d even like the initiative to expand past Marines, eventually recognizing local heroes of all types, such as teachers, firefighters and ordinary citizens who do extraordinary things. The Corps will endorse all of these, he said.
“I’m the commander of a small district in a large country. We’re looking to validate a good idea in our small district and fan the flames around this good idea,” Corbett said. “I would like to see this become like Toys for Tots, where the Corps is the sponsor, but that the weight of the good idea carries it forward to the local communities everywhere. I see local people contacting the Corps to say ‘we’ve got a nominee’ and the Corps makes the necessary arrangements.”
Corbett and Peterson said they are keeping a close eye on the initiative, compiling lessons learned from the process of gaining community participation that made the billboard possible.
Corbett said he couldn’t count on other communities to match Helena’s support — Lamar Outdoor Advertising donated the billboard space — but that honoring deserving heroes still comes at very little expense.
Montana Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger, a Marine veteran, was on hand during the unveiling of Ayersman’s billboard in the state’s capital city and issued what his spokesman later called a challenge for other states to embrace their heroes as well.
“Today, we in Helena and across the great state of Montana thank Sergeant Ayersman for his dedication, service and valor. We are proud to start the tradition of honoring valor. We hope to see this in each state of our nation,” he said.
Sgt. Tisha Carter-Valrie, the local recruiting station’s sole public affairs Marine — who organized the community participation, secured the help of Lamar Outdoor Advertising and enlisted the support of the lieutenant governor — said the firm contacted her Dec. 1 to say it would pay to replicate the billboard and display it across the state.
Ellie