Veterans gather for Memorial Day tribute

Dianna Benford/For the FCT Members of the American Legion Post 64 gathered on Monday to honor the memory of the soldiers who gave their lives to protect their country. Pictured from L to R: Rev. B. J. Bonner, Charles James, Bill Hamilton, Mayor Troy Oliver, Harry Upton, William Earl Bishop and James Wilson.

Members of the American Legion Post 64 gathered at the memorial in front of the Franklin County Courthouse on Monday to honor the memory of the fallen soldiers from this county who gave their lives protecting their country.
James Wilson, who is a past commander of Post 64, said the ceremony is something they do each Memorial Day as a way to remember the true meaning of the holiday.
“These people gave their life to protect our freedom, and the least we can do is pay tribute to their memory and the sacrifices they made,” Wilson said.
Russellville Mayor Troy Oliver, a retired general with the Alabama Army National Guard, spoke at the ceremony.
“Those of us that have been through wars don’t just remember our fallen soldiers who went to war and didn’t come home – we also remember the ones who have died because of the effects of war and were lost after they made it home,” Oliver said.
“And we don’t just remember these fallen soldiers on Memorial Day and Veterans Day. There is hardly a week that goes by where I don’t think about the sacrifices they made for our country.”
Oliver said he still keeps in contact with several men who served underneath his command during Vietnam.
“We are truly brothers,” Oliver said. “When I talk about our soldiers I always quote John 15:13 from the Bible that says, ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’
“What our soldiers do for us is a special thing and they should be remembered for their service.”