Hats Off to Our Soldiers

Transforming uniforms into everyday accessories, and sharing a soldier’s story with each one

By Elizabeth Sugg  »  Photos by Brandon Williams

“Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” are words from a traditional rhyme spoken to a bride to help her plan elements to wear on her wedding day for good luck. The “something old” and “something borrowed” are being transformed into “something new” by Eagles & Angels Limited in Southern Pines who is salvaging old uniforms of our brave men and women soldiers, and, by hand, crafting them into useful accessories we all can wear as a support to our troops – hats, ties, wallets, shirts and more. Each piece carries the story of the soldier who the uniform belonged to, and as we don this everyday apparel, we can carry that person along with us, as a “angel” or better yet, as a way for these servicemen, many still active-duty, to have their stories heard.

Eagles & Angels (E & A) was begun by Tom, a retired Army Special Operations combat veteran, who was moved by a conversation with his daughter as together they sorted the family attic and came across Tom’s old camouflage uniform. His memories began to pour out of the friends he made and lost in war. Hearing these long-ago accounts of his military service prompted his daughter to say, “You should do something with these, something good. They deserve it,” meaning both the uniforms and sharing his friends’ stories, and the idea for E & A was born. Each purchase helps support the families of the “cloth of heroes”.

Hats off to Tom and his daughter for giving us all a way to carry on and hear the stories of active-duty military, veterans and fallen soldiers. eaglesandangelsltd.com