Garner’s Heroes Remembered and Honored
Garner’s hometown heroes were remembered and honored on Saturday, Dec. 21 as the community gathered at Lake Benson Park for the Garner Veterans Memorial Wreath Laying and Gold Star Tree Ceremony.
Garner’s hometown heroes were remembered and honored on Saturday, Dec. 21 as the community gathered at Lake Benson Park for the Garner Veterans Memorial Wreath Laying and Gold Star Tree Ceremony.
Each branch of the U.S. military was represented as warriors, past and present, entered the memorial carrying a wreath to celebrate sacrifices, past and present.
“We do not decorate this memorial with wreaths. These wreaths are symbolic of our remembrance of the courage and devotion to duty of those who are celebrated here,” said U.S. Army Major General Charles Scott (retired).
The military escort followed the Town of Garner honor guard and bagpiper Jeffrey Hammerstein, the assistant chief of the Wake County EMS. Hammerstein’s haunting notes set a somber, but uplifting atmosphere.
The Garner Veterans Memorial is an interactive monument. The names, ranks and service are recorded of each of the 66 community men who died while in military service. Their sacrifice is listed by their wars, ranging from the Civil War to the War on Terror.
The five wreaths, provided by the Garner Optimist club, were placed in front of panels explaining military action in each decade, beginning with the Revolutionary War. The wreaths were later moved to the large panels.
The families of the 66 men listed on the memorial also had an engraved gold star placed in their honor on the Gold Star Tree. Gold stars also were placed on the tree in honor of the families of the 19 men who perished in our community while on their military mission.
“The gold stars are a way of honoring the families of the men and women who die in war,” Scott said.
The military escort placed an ornament on the tree in honor of the grieving families and the gold star families who were present had the opportunity to place stars in honor of their loved ones. About a dozen additional stars were added.
“It was much more moving that I had imagined,” said Erik Shepard, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps and in the U.S. Army, including tours in Iraq and in Afghanistan. “This event shows that we haven’t forgotten the sacrifices that have been made for us.”
Recently retired U.S. Marine Corps Captain Trey Grissom, a Garner Magnet high graduate, often participated in military functions and at funerals at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., during his enlistment.
“It is good to be able to participate in an event that honors men from my hometown,” Grissom said. “The families of these men know that their community has not forgotten them.”
The Wreath Laying and Gold Star Tree Ceremony was organized by Show N Tell Ministries and sponsored by the Town of Garner and the Garner Veterans Advisory Council. The Garner Optimist Club provided the wreaths and the tree.
Garner Community Call: Vietnam Veterans, Share Your Story
The local organizing committee of The Wall That Heals’ visit to Garner is trying to assemble a list of all the community men and women who served in Vietnam.
“But we know that we are missing a lot of Vietnam veterans. We’d like to talk to as many as possible. We plan to have a display at the wall about our local Vietnam veterans.”
Garner’s Tony Warren, a medic in Vietnam, is featured in an iconic Vietnam photograph. Warren is on the ground with a bandaged comrade. Warren is peering into the distance during a fire fight on June 15, 1967.
The Garner community had eight men killed in the Vietnam War and dozens of others in the community served in Vietnam.
The local organizing committee of The Wall That Heals’ visit to Garner is trying to assemble a list of all the community men and women who served in Vietnam. If you served or know of someone in the community who served, please email timstevens710@gmail.com.
“We have the stories of about 40 men from the area who served in Vietnam,” said Tim Stevens, the president of Show N Tell Ministries, which is organizing the wall’s display in Garner.
“But we know that we are missing a lot of Vietnam veterans. We’d like to talk to as many as possible. We plan to have a display at the wall about our local Vietnam veterans.”
The Wall That Heals
The Wall That Heals is a traveling ¾ scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. More than 130 communities made bids to host the wall in 2019 and Garner was among the 34 communities who were selected.
The wall will be at Garner’s Lake Benson Park on April 16 through 19. The wall lists the name of each of the 58,276 Americans who perished during the Vietnam conflict.
The wall is almost 400 feet long and is 7.5 feet tall at its highest point. Once the 140 panels are erected, the wall will be open and staffed 24 hours a day. An LED lighting system ensures that each name is visible at night.
Each name is engraved on the Avonite panels and visitors can do name rubbings.
The wall is accompanied by a mobile Education Center. Garner also plans to have a tent where the stories of our community men will be displayed.
“Last spring, when we presented “Duty,” a play about Garner and Vietnam, we displayed more than three dozen pictures and stories of our community men in Vietnam,” Stevens said. “We would like to add more stories and pictures for the display at the wall.”
Garner’s Tony Warren, a medic in Vietnam, is featured in an iconic Vietnam photograph. Warren is on the ground with a bandaged comrade. Warren is peering into the distance during a fire fight on June 15, 1967.
The photograph was used in Ken Burns’ documentary about Vietnam and was published newspapers throughout the country.
“The picture is certainly worth 1,000 words, but all of the pictures that we have assembled tell their story,” Stevens said. “We want to tell our community’s Vietnam story as well as to honor all those who perished.”
If you served in Vietnam, please contact Tim Stevens at timstevens710@gmail.com.