After Jeff Donald finished his Veterans Day speech dedicating Oktibbeha County’s newest memorial to fallen local servicemen, he said he couldn’t help but be overwhelmed with emotions.
Monday’s dedication at the courthouse marked the fulfillment of a vision Donald had about five years ago when those paying homage to Veterans Day read aloud the name of Army Sgt. Courtland A. Kennard, a Starkville-born soldier who died the previous year while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. A plaque that stood on the courthouse grounds at the time no longer had room for additional entries.
Donald and a band of organizers went to work in the following years so Kennard’s sacrifice would be remembered. Another Starkville serviceman, Army Cpl. Robert “Taylor” McDavid, would fall two years later again in Iraq, fueling their quest.
“We all have friends who did not return. I do not want to forget them,” said Donald, a retired infantryman and co-chair of the Greater Starkville Development Partnership’s Military Affairs Committee. “If we didn’t add their names to this monument, people would forget the ultimate sacrifice that these people gave for our country. We engraved their names so when people come back, they will always remember.”
The new monument itself cost in excess of $10,000 and was paid for through numerous private donations, as well as contributions from local businesses and organizations, including the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars groups.
“The Military Affairs Committee…has worked tirelessly to raise funds and organize the construction and installation of the monument. I know I join the community in appreciation for their efforts and passion for honoring our community’s veterans,” said GSDP CEO Jennifer Gregory. “Starkville has a long history of military excellence including contributions to flight training and aerospace engineering, so it’s especially fitting for us to take time to continue to honor that history and those individuals who have defended our nation’s freedom.”
Kennard joined the Army in Jan. 2003 and was deployed three years later to Iraq, where he served as a military policeman assigned to the 720th Military Police Battalion of the 89th Military Police Brigade, a copy of Donald’s Monday speech states. Kennard was killed that November after his vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device.
McDavid enlisted in the Army in 2005 and deployed with the 3rd Infantry Division to Iraq a year later, Donald’s speech states. While on foot patrol in 2008, he and four other soldiers were killed after an insurgent detonated an explosives-packed vest.
“We will never forget and always honor the sacrifices these two young men made for all of us,” Donald said.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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