Fort Stewart Color Guard prepares to Post the Color prior to Monday's annual Memorial Day ceremony
We don’t know them all, but we owe them all.
The annual Memorial Day service hosted by the J. Barry Jones Post #3563 Veterans of Foreign Wars and VFW Auxiliary was held at 3:00 in Southeastern Technical College. LTC DarSharee Saeik of Fort Stewart was the keynote speaker.
“I joined the Army 21 years ago after 9-11,” LTC Saik said. “I wanted to serve my country and honor those who lost their lives that day. Originally, I planned on being in for three years, but after experiencing the camaraderie and all the positive things that the Army has to over, I knew that’s where I needed to be.”
She continued, “I’ve been at Fort Stewart for 11 months, and recently taking command of a battalion; that’s kind of the pinnacle for a Lieutenant Colonel’s career.”
Following the LTC’s address, the names of those local fallen heroes whose names are etched on the monument on the corner of Highway 280 and Pete Phillips Road in Vidalia were read. In all the monument bears the names of 15 veterans lost in World War I; 48 who gave their lives in World War II; 7 men who died in the Korean War; and 12 veterans who died in the Vietnam War. The last name placed on the monument was that of Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright of Lyon who died in an ambush in Africa while fighting the War on Terrorism.
The ceremony ended with the playing of Taps by Hunter Loosberg.
