ROCKINGHAM — Richmond County veterans came together on Saturday at the Rockingham VFW post home to celebrate and honor those who have fought bravely and continue to defend the United States.
Lacy Shepard, commander of the AMVETS Post 316 in Rockingham and past state commander, however, would like to see veterans honored more often by the county and the city and not leave the ceremonies up to veterans groups themselves.
“It would mean even more if the county would come out and recognize us,” said Shepard. “All we have are members or family or members that show up. Our veterans are honored and proud to be able to do what we’re called to do. We’d all go back, but they won’t let us. We wouldn’t take prisoners. That’s a waste of time and extra luggage. But we’re too busy doing just police action. We spend too much money trying to fix what we tear up.”
The event at the VFW is always held on the Saturday before Veterans Day, and although Rockingham Mayor Steve Morris sent a proclamation to be read, Shepard said he wishes city and county officials placed more emphasis on veterans and their sacrifice.
“We used to do parades, but the city said it was too expensive, so they stopped them years ago,” he said. “We would like to have one, all these other towns do one. We shouldn’t have to do our own acknowledgements. The city should do it for us. For the county and the city to have as many military personnel, we’re the largest corporation in this county, but we don’t have a brick and mortar. There are between 6,000 and 8,000 military personnel in this county. That is a lot. If we take our money and go across the line, I think this county would dry up after a while.”
Richmond County Board of Commissioners Chairman Kenneth Robinette said although the county and city don’t currently sponsor a Veterans Day event, he thinks it’s a cause the commissioners can get behind.
“I would certainly think that we should,” he said about supporting veterans. “I don’t know who coordinated before, but I know all the Board of Commissioners are 100 percent behind veterans. I don’t know why we don’t do it. But I’m all for it. We should be doing it.
“If anybody wants to coordinate or wants us to coordinate, I know we’re all in. We’ll do whatever we can do, and we all should be doing more in celebration and honoring but absolutely if there’s something there that we can do, please let us know. There’s not a more important thing to celebrate. We absolutely should be doing more.”
Shepard said it would nice if the city or the county would do the presentations and honor veterans instead of veterans groups doing it themselves. With such a large number of military present in Richmond County, Shepard thinks more should be done.
“The VA is just waiting on all our veterans to die just so they don’t have to take care of us,” said Shepard. “We’ve got a lot of veterans in this county. We still have some World War II veterans in this county, but they’re leaving by the day. We look after our guards when they go overseas and their families when they’re gone. We’ve had big blowouts for them when they leave and get back. We try to look after own own, but if we don’t, no one else will.”
Rockingham Mayor Steve Morris said he also didn’t know who sponsored the parades Shepard spoke of. He couldn’t recall any taking place and added the city hasn’t discussed the issue in the last 15 years.
When asked if the city could be doing more to support veterans and honor them on Veterans Day, he said, “Sure, I would think so. We could always do more.”
The Rockingham American Legion will be placing American flags on veterans’ graves Tuesday — both at the post’s home at Ledbetter Lake as well as Bear Branch Cemetery and Green Lake United Methodist Church, according to Carlton Hawkins of the post.
“They’ll be up through the holiday, and we’ll take them back on Thursday,” said Hawkins. “If we were in these long dry spells, then we’d leave them up all week.”
No matter what the event is, how well it’s attended or who’s backing it, Shepard said he is proud to be a veteran and never misses a chance to help honor those like himself.
“By being a veteran, it’s an honor just to represent the flag and let people know what we stand for,” he said. “The worst thing we see is someone desecrate the flag, and it’s a shame this country doesn’t stand up for what that flag represents.”
Reach reporter Matt Harrelson at 910-817-2674 and follow him on Twitter @mattyharrelson.