Pinewood dedication today is part of Freedom Reigns Project

At 4 p.m. today, Pinewood Preparatory School in Summerville will remember the life and contributions of a quiet and gracious local hero and veteran of the "greatest generation," Frances S. Suddeth Josephson. In 1942, during her final semester at Goucher College, Fran commenced her training to become a World War II code breaker and, following graduation, she accepted a Navy commission into the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service).

The success of Fran and the other members of her code breaking team in deciphering the Japanese code contributed significantly to the turning of the tide of the war in the Pacific Theater and, more specifically, provided intelligence that allowed Marine Corps fighters to intercept and down an aircraft carrying Admiral Yamamoto, the architect of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

I owe Fran a personal debt of gratitude in that my dad was a Navy fighter pilot very early in World War II and engaged his Japanese counterparts at considerable disadvantage in terms of aircraft capability. I learned later that when USS Yorktown (CV-10) sailed on her maiden combat deployment in 1943, with my dad serving as the carrier's air group commander, our Navy enjoyed a significant tactical intelligence advantage because of the success of Fran's code breaking team.

Fran went on to live a full and wonderful life as a WAVE, a Navy wife, a mother, a fashion model and as a very accomplished artist. Her generosity and commitment to her nation, her community and her fellow veterans will be chronicled during Sunday afternoon's dedication and opening of the Frances S. Suddeth Josephson Liberty Garden on the campus of Pinewood Preparatory School.

The dedication of Liberty Garden honoring Fran's service to her nation constitutes phase 2 of Pinewood Prep's ever more heralded Freedom Reigns Project, a carefully composed initiative, stressing informed citizenship and patriotism that is woven into the fabric of Pinewood's greater curriculum. A sculptural tribute to those individuals who have demonstrated uncommon courage, Liberty Garden will host the busts of leaders who have made a difference in the constant struggle for peace and freedom throughout the world. These leaders are being selected by Pinewood students, who have participated in the oration, robust and informed debate and written compositions that flow from the mission and objectives set forth for the Freedom Reigns Project.

Pinewood Prep's Freedom Hall, the school's main assembly space, theater and dining area constituted Phase 1 of the Freedom Reigns Project, and through the efforts of many has become the arena for executing the project. Arrestingly vivid 14-foot high murals, depicting significant historical events and characters in our nation's continuing formation and created by Sarah Jeffers of Sullivan's Island, serve to visually remind and inspire students on a daily basis that the freedoms they enjoy were not easily won, nor are they easily preserved. All who enter quickly appreciate Freedom Hall's motto, "Commemorating 20th Century Sacrifices, Preserving 21st Century Freedoms."

The contents of the murals were approved by a committee of three former Rhodes scholars whose judgment, citizenship and patriotism are self-evident — Major Gen. John Grinalds, former president of The Citadel; Benjamin Bernard Dunlap, president of Wofford College; and James C. Parham, a respected attorney and partner at Wyche Burgess Freeman & Parham. These individuals and many others of their stature continue to support and participate in a wide variety of Freedom Reigns Project activities.

Fran took great pleasure in attending Pinewood's annual Freedom Reigns series of programs that began in September with a 9/11 remembrance service and continued on to include meaningful tributes on Veterans Day and Pearl Harbor Day; a Freedom Week surrounding Martin Luther King Jr. Day, focusing on domestic freedoms; an International Week in March, which capitalizes on the unique atmosphere at Pinewood born of hosting 46 foreign exchange students over the past 20 years; and a concluding service toward the end of the school year encompassing Law Week, during which the winners of Pinewood's oratorical, music and art competitions are recognized. In 2007 the school presented its first Freedom Reigns Mother Theresa Scholarship of $5,000 to Annie Tsusi, whose parents immigrated from mainland China, having fled in a boat the size of a life raft.

Phase 3 of the Freedom Reigns Project will involve further cross-curriculum development of projects and programs, including teaming initiatives across grade levels, along with enhanced assembly interaction. One immediate objective is to establish a Liberty Scholar of the USA designation that would be conferred upon graduation to students who have fulfilled a rigorous set of requirements still being defined. Pinewood Prep's ultimate goal is to publish a Freedom Reigns Project curriculum guide that is so academically enticing and easy to facilitate that it can be readily adopted by interested public schools.

Needless to say, Frances S. Suddeth Josephson will smile down in quiet satisfaction Sunday afternoon and put her gentle blessing on Liberty Garden, its purpose and on all who are and have been involved in bringing the Freedom Reigns Project to fruition for the benefit of our nation's next generation of leaders, clearly represented by Pinewood Preparatory School's student body.

Rear Adm. Jim Flatley (retired) was a naval aviator and is the retired CEO at Patriots Point.

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