Fairfield County Honors Veterans Friday

Today, Fairfield County celebrates our countless veterans who have bravely and gallantly served our country. This year’s ceremony will take place at the Fairfield County Recreation Department’s gymnasium starting promptly at 11a.m. We invite everyone to attend our celebration.

In countless ceremonies like this – repeated across the land – Americans will pause to honor our Veterans. Over the course of 237 years of independence, these patriots have stood watch over our liberty. From Bunker Hill to Bagdad, we are the beneficiaries of their vigilance and determination to uphold the democratic beliefs on which our nation was founded.

America has been blessed as no other country in the history of the world. The sacrifices of our armed forces have given us the security and freedom in which to grow and flourish as a nation – in law, human rights, economics, science and technology, and the arts. We only need to look at the news headlines to know that our way of life is a beacon of hope and freedom to others, across the world. It has drawn millions to our shores and serves as a model of democracy for the world.

We remember America’s heroes, for it was on the 11th hour of the 11th month of 1918 that the guns of the Great War fell silent across Europe and the dough boys started coming home. The guns did not stay silent for long, however. Our troops have persevered on the wind-swept beaches of Normandy, on the frozen ground of Korea, in the sweltering jungles of Vietnam and in the sandy deserts of Iraq. Today, we think of those who fought the decisive battles and who have kept the fragile peace since the founding of our Nation. Let it be our mission to preserve the memories of their great deeds.

Today we also remember the men and women who tonight and every other night of the year will be sitting alone in the dark, waiting to go on patrol, keeping the peace close to home, or standing guard in faraway places like Helmand Province or Kandahar. Every day, they put on their uniforms and they lay their lives on the line for each of us – to allow us to continue to enjoy the blessings of freedom. They are today’s soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, who have stepped forward and answered the call to arms. They are tomorrow’s veterans. May we forever be thankful and grateful!

– Department of Veterans Affairs

Contact us: (803) 767-5711 | P.O. Box 675, Blythewood, SC 29016 | [email protected]