Sending troops inspiration

Paul Clinton

Bob Siemon’s moment of inspiration is finding its way onto the necks

of U.S. Marines in Iraq.

Siemon, a Newport Beach resident and former hippie, has begun

manufacturing the “shield of faith,” a pewter necklace and lapel pin

that families of U.S. soldiers can mail to their loved ones in the

Persian Gulf.

Inspiration struck Siemon during a sleepless night in mid-January,

after a conversation at a Riverside trade show with the mother of a

soldier stationed in Iraq. Siemon said he was disturbed to learn that

the woman had nothing to send her son in the field.

Now, the soldier can wear the dog tag shield necklace and the

relative can wear a smaller, matching lapel pin.

“It’s kind of a partnership, a bond,” Siemon said. “If you’re in

one of those terrifying situations, it would be a sense of

protection.”

Siemon, whose company makes inspirational jewelry, manufacturers

the 1/2-inch-by- 3/4-inch shield necklace at his Santa Ana factory.

The pewter necklace is engraved with a quote from the book of Joshua

urging strength and courage.

In two weeks, Siemon has sold more than 50,000 units of both the

necklaces and pins. Siemon sells them to about 5,000 Christian

churches and bookshops across the nation.

At the bookstore at Mariner’s Church, on the border of Newport

Beach and Irvine, they have been a hot-selling item, bookstore

assistant Mary Blunden said.

“We’re so close to Camp Pendleton that there are a lot of families

in the area,” Blunden said. “They like that it’s a token to remember

their loved ones.”

The shield necklaces sell for $5.99; the pins for $3.99. They are

also available through the company’s Web site (www.bobsiemon.com).

Siemon, who comes from humble beginnings, has found a way to turn

his inspiration into a commercially successful business. As a

19-year-old art student in 1969, Siemon sold silver rings with

“peace” and “Jesus saves” engravings from a circus wagon in

Calabasas.

In 1975, shortly after moving to Newport Beach, Siemon opened a

Christian jewelry shop at the intersection of Sunflower Avenue and

Fairview Road in Costa Mesa.

His goal of producing “inspired products” has led to a business

that produces a full line of guardian-angel pins, cross pendants,

leather Bible covers and a range of rings.

* PAUL CLINTON covers the environment, business and politics. He

may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

paul.clinton@latimes.com.