By KATY SAVAGE
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Kim Haley wants you to talk about her son.
She wants you to say his name and tell stories. She wants you to remember who he was.
Haley’s son was named Cody and he liked fishing and hunting. He was 20 years old and an athlete who played football and baseball. His favorite family member was his dog, and he loved motorcycles.
“We can’t forget the motorcycles,” Haley said, laughing.
Haley wants you to laugh, even though Cody, a U.S. Marine, was killed this past August when a tree fell on top of him at a training camp in California. The accident happened just after Cody had returned from a 7-month deployment.
“I, unfortunately, am every mother’s worst nightmare come true,” she said.
Haley, who lives in a small town in Iowa, is coming to Newport next month where her son will be memorialized at the third annual The Voices That Care singing competition on April 21 at the Newport Opera House.
Fifteen contestants will sing before judges in the competition, modeled after NBC’s popular television show “The Voice.”
The event is hosted by the Sullivan County Cares (For Troops) organization, which honors veterans and raises money to send care packages to troops. Gold Star families, meaning those who lost a child in the service, are honored every year.
This will be Haley’s first time in New Hampshire.
“I don’t want Cody to be forgotten,” she said, “and if I have to go halfway across the country to do that, then that’s what I have to do. Say his name. Tell me stories. I want to hear about it. That’s the truth.”
Haley learned about the Sullivan County Cares (For Troops) organization after meeting the organization’s founder Tammy Freckleton through a social media group for military mothers.
The Sullivan County Cares (For Troops) organization is a nonprofit that has sent 571 packages to those in service all across the world since beginning 2 1/2 years ago.
Freckleton, of Newport, started the organization because her son is in the military. He is currently at a training camp in California. Freckleton is friends with nine moms who have lost children in the five years her son has served.
“It could be me at any time,” she said.
Freckleton is sympathetic to these mothers and she’s made it a point to get people talking about those that have died, recognizing that parents want their child talked about.
“Whenever you hear somebody’s child died, nobody knows what to say to them,” Freckleton said. “(Mothers) want to hear their (child’s) names because that means they’re remembered.”
Freckelton hasn’t seen her son in a year. Her organization, helping others, is how she gets through missing him.
Sullivan County Cares has previously recognized local families that have lost a child in its annual singing competition. This year’s honoree is a “big statement for our organization,” Freckleton said. “We’re not just recognizing our locals. We’re recognizing everyone in our country.”
Haley will be escorted into town by Newport police. The Sunapee Lake Lodge donated two nights for Haley and her family to stay. Haley will attend a USO show in Tilton, New Hampshire and then she’ll walk through a flag line into the Newport Opera House before the singing competition begins.
Freckleton is hoping the town supports Haley by waving American flags upon her arrival.
The singing competition will help Sullivan County Cares mail packages to those in service, which costs $15 to $20 each, Freckleton said.
Packages include anything from protein bars and candy to lip balm and shampoo.
Sullivan County Cares receives donations from dozens of local organizations and businesses, including Hubert’s Family Outfitters, Carroll Concrete, La Valley Building Supply and others.
Sullivan County Cares board member Alice Davis said her family has also made a military duffle bag and a military quilt to raffle.
Davis’ aunt in Florida has donated thank-you cards and gifts for the organization for them to sell as well as paintings to raffle.
“If our packages can do a little thing (to make someone feel better), that feels good to me,” Freckleton said.
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