Abbeville County remembered its fallen heroes Monday with a Memorial Day ceremony in front of the Abbeville County Courthouse in Abbeville.
Presented by American Legion Post 2, the program featured Post 2 commander Terry Greenfield as the master of ceremonies, and Greenfield provided a brief history of the holiday, which started out as Decoration Day, a time to decorate the graves of those who had perished in the American Civil War.
Decoration Day evolved into Memorial Day, an observance of the sacrifice given by those who gave their lives in the service of the U.S. military.
Abbeville County veterans affairs officer Teresa Mahaffey read aloud a list of names of Abbeville County people who had given their lives in military service over the years. As each name was read aloud, the bell "Big Bob" on Court Square was rung.
The program also featured an invocation and benediction by Wallace McClinton, and the singing of the national anthem by David Norman.
Greenfield, in a brief presentation, called on his listeners to remember the families of those who had given their lives, and help them out in ways big and small.
"We need to be there for all of them," he said. "Nobody can replace these fallen heroes."
The Memorial Day observance concluded with a laying of a wreath at the foot of the veterans monument between the Abbeville County Courthouse and the Opera House.
Laying the wreath were Earl Crabb of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Lewis Jackson of Amvets and Greenfield.
It was all "to honor the memory of our fallen heroes," in Greenfield's words.
Greenfield added in an email last week a related note on Memorial Day.
"As you know, we usually adorn tombstones of Vets with flags for Memorial Day," he said.
"But this year was an exception due to the weather. Thus many of the flags postings will be adorning the cemeteries with flags around the perimeters or entranceways. We did this because we were running out of time to be ready for Memorial Day and the conditions and factors made it tough to get to each marker."
The laying of a wreath at the foot of the veterans monument between the Courthouse and the Opera House in Abbeville punctuated a Memorial Day program recently. Laying the wreath were (from left) Terry Greenfield of American Legion Post 2, Lewis Jackson of AmVets, and Earl Crabb of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. (Staff photo by Henry E. Green)
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