City of Warner Robins honors veterans, military at Tuesday ceremony

WARNER ROBINS — “We need to always remember that freedom is not free. Freedom was fought for, blood was shed and we deserve every piece of freedom that we get, but it also must continue to be fought for.”

That powerful statement came from Warner Robins Mayor LaRhonda Patrick at a Veterans Day ceremony hosted by the city on Nov. 11.

The ceremony featured the singing of the National Anthem and “God Bless America,” a wreath-laying ceremony, armband dedication, and a moment of silence. 

Rolling Thunder Georgia-3 President Kathy Jones spoke during the armband dedication. She mentioned military personnel who are prisoners of war or missing in action, and encouraged the public to remember them as well.

“If you get an opportunity, tell your friends, tell everybody to keep these veterans who are still missing to this very day. Remember them, say their names, find out who they are, so that we will not let [their] families down,” Jones said.

Lamar Pounds, Georgia Veterans of Foreign Wars Ninth District Commander, was the ceremony’s keynote speaker. He served in the Army for 28 years and retired as a Sergeant Major.

His career took him to deployments in Germany and several Warsaw Pact states, where the Army trained soldiers and non-commissioned officers in unlearning Soviet Union methodology and becoming better leaders.

His role never felt like a job because of the service he was providing.

“I kind of joke sometimes, I never worked a day in my life for the 28 years I’ve spent in the Army, because I didn’t. Every day I went to work, even though it may have been hard, I was able to enjoy the fact that I was doing something that made my heart larger,” Pounds said.

Pounds said the only way to maintain peace is by keeping a robust military presence.

“Hopefully we fought the last war there will be to fight, but that’s just a hope. The only way we will continue to make sure that does stay true is by maintaining the strong military force that we have,” Pounds said.

Pounds also mentioned military families and thanked them for their service, highlighting the sacrifices they make when a military member is deployed.

“We would have never been able to go wherever our nation sent us and been able to accomplish the missions that we were able to accomplish, without knowing that you and our children that we left behind … whatever family that [we] left behind, that they were cared for, that they knew what to do,” Pounds said.

Finally, Pounds thanked veterans service organizations, sharing the power behind their vote and promoting civic engagement.

“The more service organizations we all support, the better Congress listens to us. We all know Congress listens real well, but they do listen to votes. … our elected politicians respect the fact that we vote and military veterans do vote. Continue to do so. Stay engaged,” Pounds said.