CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Shortly before Army Sgt. Tahera Parker left for Afghanistan last year, her father explained the new flame-resistant military uniforms he helped make at a Gaston County textile plant.
The only operation of its kind in North Carolina, the mill turned out yarn for material worn by all deployed U.S. ground soldiers and Marines.
John Byers, plant engineer at the Pharr Yarns I-85 operation in McAdenville, told his daughter how the new uniforms differed from the old cotton versions: Instead of melting and sticking to the skin when hit by flames, the material is self-extinguishing.
"She wasn't really paying me that much attention," said Byers, 53, of Salisbury. "It just wasn't hitting home. But when she left, I knew she'd be in a uniform with yarn we'd made and that she'd be at least a little safer."
Back home on R&R in December, Parker, 29, toured her dad's plant for the first time, viewing the yarn-making process with new appreciation. She'd survived an IED explosion in Kabul, and, as a medical-lab technician, had seen severe burns on coalition troops who didn't have flame-resistant uniforms.
Pharr Yarns is just one part of a uniform-making supply network that stretches from the Carolinas to New England. The work at the plant is also testament to the fact that while the fabled Carolinas textiles industry is a shadow of its former self these days, some plants are still spinning away.
In McAdenville, three flame-resistant fibers are blended into a yarn; that yarn is then shipped to Inman, S.C., where it's woven into fabric. A camouflage pattern is printed on the material in Georgia and Massachusetts. Then the fabric goes to Alabama and Puerto Rico for cutting and sewing.
The military's call for a flame-resistant material came with the rise of IEDs - improvised explosive devices.
Quoting figures from NATO, the coalition representing manufacturers of the new uniforms says the use of IEDs was up 80 percent last year, making them the leading killer of U.S. and international troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The new fabric reduces second- and third-degree burns by as much as 44 percent over the old uniforms, according to the coalition, which recently launched a public-awareness campaign about the material.
For years, Pharr has made protective yarns that go into everything from uniforms for firefighters and utility-line workers to racecar driver helmets and astronaut spacesuits.
About two years ago, three of the company's plants began making yarn for the flame-resistant fabric.
Harold Edwards, vice president and director of manufacturing for the high-performance yarn division, said most of the production is handled at the I-85 plant, nestled by the interstate and South Fork River.
Machines hum there around the clock, six days a week. And the plant's 300 employees understand the critical roles they play in getting a lifesaving material to war zones. For many, the connection is stronger because they have relatives in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Donna Horne, of Gastonia, thought of her granddaughter's husband, a Marine sergeant who has served three tours in Iraq. She also considered other troops on scattered battlefields - and the scars they may bring home.
"Anything we can do for today's troops will never be enough," Horne said. "I'm really proud to work here."
Byers had daughters serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. He thought of them often - especially at the plant, where machines under his supervision spun out the protective yarn.
When Parker arrived in Afghanistan she got four sets of uniforms. Her old ones had fit better, but she knew flame-resistance was something she needed.
In November, Parker got her first look at Kabul, riding in a heavily armored SUV, making stops at medical clinics.
Along the way, she spotted a car with people pointing in her direction.
Then her SUV driver saw more suspicious activity ahead; he yelled: "Brace yourselves."
Parker gritted her teeth just before the SUV clipped an IED. The explosion sounded "like thunder - real close," she recalled.
The vehicle flipped three times. Parker had three dislocated ribs and a chipped disc in her neck. But there had been no fire; she'd survived - and learned how quickly things happen in war.
In December, she made it a point to visit her father's plant and see firsthand how workers made the yarn that went in her uniforms.
"I met his whole crew," said Parker, who got home in May and returns to Afghanistan in a year. "And I thanked them for everything they did."
