Models sign pinup calendars for Fort Benning soldiers

In October of last year several local military girlfriends and wives posed beside restored World War II planes to create an old-fashioned pinup calendar.

The result was “For Our Boys,” a glossy photographic collection featuring 12 women dressed in ’40s-era garments. Proceeds from the 2010 calendar benefit the Wounded Warrior Project with $10 of every $20 calendar going toward the cause, said Tess Crosby of Columbus. She organized the project with Sarah Caudel, owner of Dixie Pin-Up in Atlanta.

By the end of 2009 the Wounded Warrior Project was $6,100 richer, thanks to the efforts of Crosby and Caudel.

A handful of the models featured in “For Our Boys” were at the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center on Wednesday, signing and handing out calendars to members of Fort Benning’s Warrior Transition Battalion. Most of the women featured in the calendar are from the Columbus/Fort Benning area and have ties to the military.

“We wanted to give directly back to Fort Benning and the Columbus area,” Crosby said. “I know that through the line they probably get funds from the Wounded Warrior Project, but we wanted to actually give them something directly and say thank you.”

Joshua McCart, a corporal with the Warrior Transition Battalion, said he was impressed by the obvious amount of work that went into the project and pleased that its proceeds will be funneled into the recovery efforts of soldiers like himself.

“Anytime people are willing to take time out of their lives to give back to us it always kind of brings you back to reality that this isn’t just a job. That there’s more to it,” McCart said. “It’s always appreciated. It makes your day when you find out somebody else thinks fondly of you.”

This year’s pinup calendars will be available to purchase through the Dixie Pin-Up Web site until the end of January. Crosby and Caudel said they plan on producing a 2011 version in the coming months.

“We had such a great response from the calendar worldwide actually. I had calendar sales go all the way to Australia and France,” Caudel said. “We’re very excited about the project, and so I think that next year we’ll just try and do (it) a little bit bigger and just keep going with it and hope that we can write more money to the charity.”