NEWBERRY — The annual Memorial Day ceremony will be held Sunday, May 26 at 4 p.m. at Community Hall in downtown Newberry.
The service is sponsored by the American Legion, the City of Newberry and Newberry County.
Americans who have died in war and Newberry County veterans who have died in the last year will be remembered.
“It’s always a nice service. We’ll have the presentation of the colors, music, a remembrance of Americans who’ve fallen serving our country, the recitation of names of Newberry County veterans who’ve passed away, and a POW/MIA remembrance,” said David Parnell, commander of American Legion Post 24.
“We encourage people to come to the service,” said Eugene Wilson, commander of American Legion Post 219. “It is important we remember Memorial Day.”
Keynote speaker will be Captain Wesley Palmore, who served 27 years in the South Carolina Army National Guard as an infantry soldier, Bradley fighting vehicle gunner/commander and infantry officer.
A native of Newberry, Palmore graduated from Newberry High, earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Benedict College and a Masters Degree in Human Resource Management from Webster University. He enlisted in the National Guard in 1987 and was assigned to the 4th Battalion 118th Infantry of the 218th Brigade. He served in numerous leadership positions and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1999. In 2004-05, he was deployed to Kosovo as part of a NATO peacekeeping mission. In 2007 he deployed to Afghanistan and was assigned to Special Forces Ops as an embedded tactical trainer and trained Afghan Army and Police. Palmore was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Combat Infantry Badge for his service in Afghanistan. Palmore was deployed to Kosovo in 2012-13 and served as a S3 Battle Captain for the Multi-National Battel Group in Kosovo. He retired from military service in 2014.
Palmore also has a long and distinguished career in law enforcement. He works for the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office as a Lieutenant/School Resource Officer. He is married to Cynthia, and they have a daughter and a son.
One World War II veteran from Newberry who will be remembered Sunday is Floyd Fulmer, whose remains were identified in 2018 in the Netherlands using DNA analysis. His grave was previously marked as “Unknown” in the American Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands. Fulmer’s name was already listed on the World War II monument at Newberry’s Memorial Park.
Also participating in the Memorial Day service will be the Mid-Carolina JR ROTC, Tracy Swygert singing the national anthem, Barbara Ellis with “God Bless America” and Carlton Kinard with Taps.