A dedication ceremony for the South Carolina Gold Star Families Monument provided by the Hershel “Woody” Williams Medal of Honor Foundation will be held at Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum on Saturday at 10:30 am. The event is free and open to the public.
The monument recognizes and honors South Carolina Gold Star families who have sacrificed a loved one in support of America's freedom through every conflict since World War I. Medal of Honor Recipient Hershel “Woody” Williams will be part of the ceremony, which will also be attended by various dignitaries.
The South Carolina Gold Star Families Memorial Monument features two sides. One side bears the words: “Gold Star Families Memorial Monument, a tribute to Gold Star Families and Relatives who have sacrificed a Loved One for our Freedom.” The other side tells a story through the four granite panels: Homeland, Family, Patriot, and Sacrifice. The scenes on each panel are a reflection of each community's Gold Star Families and their fallen Heroes. At the center of this tribute is the most distinct feature of the monument, a cut out of a soldier standing at attention which represents the Loved One who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the name of Freedom.
A Gold Star family is a wife, husband, mother, father, stepmother, stepfather, parent through adoption, foster parents who stand or stood in loco parentis, children, stepchildren, children through adoption, brothers, sisters, half brothers, half sisters, aunts, uncles, grandchildren and grandparents of a member of the Armed Forces of the United States that sacrificed their life for our way of life and the American flag under which they served.
The event will be held near the cannons at Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum.
