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West Point to dedicate memorial, other Veterans’ Day services planned
by Jennifer Shrader
Staff writer
Nov 08, 2012 | 19604 views | 0 0 comments | 5 5 recommendations | email to a friend | print

A new memorial will be dedicated Friday in West Point and services honoring veterans are planned there, along with Hogansville and LaGrange.

West Point will dedicate its veteran and peace officers’ memorial at 10 a.m. Friday at J. Smith Lanier Park. It’s the first citywide Veteran’s Day service in West Point, after the memorial was built this summer.

Police Chief Jeffrey Cato made construction of the memorial a priority early this year and the $15,000 monument was paid for with funds raised during the police department’s annual golf tournament. One side honors public safety workers, the other side honors veterans of all branches of military service.

“Personally and professionally, I think every city should recognize its public safety workers and its veterans,” Cato said. “they give their lives for us. They serve and protect.”

Previous to having their own memorial, West Point residents marked Veterans’ Day in adjacent Lanett, Ala.

“That was OK, but it wasn’t West Point,” Cato said.

Hogansville also will hold its annual Veterans’ Day service at 11 a.m. Friday at Calvin Hipp Veterans Memorial Park on Main Street. Former Hogansville city manager and U.S. Navy Veteran Bill Stankiewicz will be the featured speaker.

George Bailey, chaplain for the American Legion Post 152 in Hogansville, said the Troup County Sheriff’s Office will post the colors at the event and the Hogansville Student Council will provide music.

The park is decorated each year with flags provided by the Hogansville Pilot Club.

LaGrange’s Veterans’ Day service will be at 11 a.m. Monday at the memorial at the Troup County Government Center on Ridley Avenue.

Lt. Col. Michael Muller, the new commanding officer at Fort Benning, will be the speaker in LaGrange, and memorial pavers added to the site in the last year will be dedicated. Names of veterans who have died in the last year also will be read during the ceremony.



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