Fort Bliss Exchange Creates Special Honor for Fallen Heroes

When the Exchange at Fort Bliss, Texas, wanted to honor the Nation’s Warfighters on Memorial Day, Main Store Manager Paula Bradford put the team’s visual merchandisers to work.

Victor Smith, Diamante Byrne, Nichole Lynch, Susan Myers and Samantha Battig created a display of photos of service members from World War II through the war in Afghanistan. Nearly 300 shoppers and associates signed their names to the display, which debuted at the store’s entrance a week before Memorial Day.

“Many customers thanked us for reminding everyone that we have a Memorial Day as a tribute to those lost in service and not as an opening to barbecue season.”

-Paula Bradford, main store manager

“Every morning, the number of names on the banner grew and grew,” Bradford said. “Many customers thanked us for reminding everyone that we have a Memorial Day as a tribute to those lost in service and not as an opening to barbecue season.”

Several customers who signed their names became emotional as they remembered loved ones or battle buddies lost in war.

“I realized then that the pain of losing someone in their families or someone in their units is still very raw, no matter how much time had passed,” said Bradford, whose two uncles served in Vietnam and survived. “We greatly appreciated those associates and customers who shared the names of family and friends who paid the ultimate price in service to our country.”