Park and monument stand alongside US-76 westbound

George Mabry was a just a young man from South Carolina when he hit Utah Beach at Normandy on June 6th, 1944. By November he was obviously a hardened warrior, determined to lead his men in defeat of the forces against him. His leadership qualities were recognized with this award of The Congressional Medal of Honor -

He was commanding the 2d Battalion, 8th Infantry, in an attack through the Hurtgen Forest near Schevenhutte, Germany, on 20 November 1944. During the early phases of the assault, the leading elements of his battalion were halted by a minefield and immobilized by heavy hostile fire. Advancing alone into the mined area, Col. Mabry established a safe route of passage. He then moved ahead of the foremost scouts, personally leading the attack, until confronted by a boobytrapped double concertina obstacle. With the assistance of the scouts, he disconnected the explosives and cut a path through the wire. Upon moving through the opening, he observed 3 enemy in foxholes whom he captured at bayonet point. Driving steadily forward he paced the assault against 3 log bunkers which housed mutually supported automatic weapons. Racing up a slope ahead of his men, he found the initial bunker deserted, then pushed on to the second where he was suddenly confronted by 9 onrushing enemy. Using the butt of his rifle, he felled 1 adversary and bayoneted a second, before his scouts came to his aid and assisted him in overcoming the others in hand-to-hand combat. Accompanied by the riflemen, he charged the third bunker under pointblank small arms fire and led the way into the fortification from which he prodded 6 enemy at bayonet point. Following the consolidation of this area, he led his battalion across 300 yards of fire-swept terrain to seize elevated ground upon which he established a defensive position which menaced the enemy on both flanks, and provided his regiment a firm foothold on the approach to the Cologne Plain. Col. Mabry's superlative courage, daring, and leadership in an operation of major importance exemplify the finest characteristics of the military service.

This monument present in four elements; the bronze dedication markers, four granite benches adorned with the service seals of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force, an eternal flame, and four panels inscribed with the names of those Sumter County residents lost in battle from World War I through the Persian Gulf.

Unfortunately, those that created this memorial have forgotten, and failed to recognize, the contributions of the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Merchant Marine. It was Coast Guardsmen that took our troops to the beaches and it was Merchant Mariners who sailed the dangerous waters of the Atlantic and Pacific in an effort to keep our troops supplied with the materials of war.

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