Laurens County Hall of Heroes Hosts Memorial Day Ceremony
May 25, 2026
The Laurens County Hall of Heroes held its annual Memorial Day Ceremony on Monday, May 25, 2026, at at the Laurens County Veterans Monument on W. Main Street in Laurens, drawing community members, veterans, and elected officials together to honor those who gave their lives in service to the nation.
The ceremony opened with the Presentation of Colors by American Legion Post 25, followed by the National Anthem and a prayer offered by Ms. Holly Hill and Captain Rob O’Bryant, retired U.S. Marine Corps. A Memorial Day audio reading featured remarks from former President Ronald Reagan.
Welcoming remarks were delivered by Mayor Nathan Senn of the City of Laurens and Mayor Randy Randall of the City of Clinton. LCHoH Chairman Morris Madden offered the chairman’s remarks.
Mayor Senn reflected on the personal nature of the day, sharing the story of his grandfather, Andrew Senn, who served in Africa during World War II and narrowly escaped death when a transport plane crashed on a runway where his grandfather had been waiting.
“But for a little bit of timing being slightly different, my grandfather would have been killed,” Senn said. “And that is true of so many of us here. We would have lost members of our families. The sad thing is, there were some who didn’t have that split moment where history could have been different. And they did give all.”
Mayor Randall paid tribute to several individuals, including two friends killed in Vietnam and Presbyterian College alumnus Alan Calloway, who was killed in action while leading a tank patrol through a minefield. He also honored Captain Kimberly Hampton of Easley, South Carolina, who on January 2, 2004, was killed near Fallujah while piloting her Kiowa helicopter and providing cover for ground troops. Hampton, commander of Delta Troop, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division, became the first female military pilot in U.S. history to be shot down and killed by hostile fire. She was 27 years old. Hampton was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, the Air Medal, and the Purple Heart.
“This weekend, as we remember those who gave everything for our freedom, I remember Kimberly not just for her service, but for her spirit, determination, and the love she had for her country,” Randall said.
The keynote address was delivered by Colonel Alan Wilson, South Carolina Attorney General and member of the SC Army National Guard. Wilson, a 1996 graduate of Francis Marion University, spoke of the sacrifice running through generations of his own family, including his grandfather, who spent 35 years in a wheelchair after being shot by a Japanese sniper three days before the end of hostilities in the Pacific Theater of World War II, and his father, Army pilot Michael Allen McCroy Wilson, who was killed in a training exercise at Fort Bragg in August 1975, leaving behind a 24-year-old widow and a two-year-old son.
Wilson also recounted his own combat experience in August 2004, when his convoy was struck by an improvised explosive device in downtown Mosul during a 2,600-mile convoy to the northern Iraq border.
“I saw kids barely old enough to be out of high school rushing into harm’s way, where they expected to be shot, climbing onto a tractor trailer truck that they expected to explode,” Wilson said. “And they did so without any personal regard for their own safety.”
Wilson closed with a challenge to those in attendance.
“Never pass up an opportunity, if you see someone wearing a veteran hat or a lapel pin or a uniform, to say thank you,” he said. “A simple thank you can go a long way, because I’d rather them hear that while they’re alive than honor them today.”
LCHoH Vice Chairman Lt. Col. Jim Moore, retired U.S. Army and SC National Guard, presided over the raising of the U.S. flag to full staff following a morning at half staff. Wreaths were laid at the monument by Colonel Wilson, Mayor Senn, Mayor Randall, and Deborah Crenshaw of the Issaqueena Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. The Playing of Taps was provided in audio by LCHoH Board Member Sgt. Mark Madden, retired U.S. Army and SC National Guard.
Chairman Madden delivered the closing statement, reminding those gathered that honoring the fallen should not be limited to a single day.
“Please do not honor and remember our fallen hero warriors just today,” Madden said. “We must remember and honor them every day.”
This year’s ceremony was held in partnership with the City of Laurens, City of Clinton, Laurens County, American Legion Posts 25 and 56, the Issaqueena Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, and First Methodist Church of Laurens.
