14-04-2025
$15,000 monument to be installed at the Russell County Veterans Memorial
RUSSELL COUNTY, Ala. (WRBL) — The Russell County Veterans Memorial will receive a new POWMIA monument.
On Monday, the Russell County Commission unanimously voted for the Russell County Veterans Memorial to receive a new $15,000 monument.
Jerry Simmons is a Vietnam veteran who was drafted into the armed forces. He now serves as the director of the memorial.
'When I left Vietnam and was coming home and everything we the mia and pow were almost forgotten about and people weren't talking about the mia's pows and I told myself I would never let them be forgotten. Mia's and POWS should never be forgotten. Actually no veteran should be able to be forgotten.'
Jerry Simmons, Director of Russell County Memorial
Simmons says they have been working to get this monument for two years. Now, the goal is to have the monument installed by Veterans Day.
Simmons says the monument is a way to keep memories alive.
'That's what it's all about to me,' Simmons says.'Is for veterans and their families to come out here and just sit down and reflect and the memories of what it was to be in the military or someone in the military.'
'It's an opportunity for the community to come together and a brotherhood,' Simmons explains. 'It's a relationship. It's a strand, runs through everyone of the same strength. We're all got something. We all got that camaraderie, something we all put on the line for our country.'
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