MILTON, Ga. — Retired Sgt. Maj. Paul Hershey, keynote speaker at Milton’s Memorial Day ceremony May 29, described his 29 years in the U.S. Marines and offered heartfelt words of respect to those who have died serving the country.
“If you look at the number of ‘killed in action’ for our country, it comes down to 1,316,771,” Hershey said. “Now, the spirit of men with the courage, dedication and conviction to duty will never be broken in our country. Never.”
He also called attention to those missing in action – more than 80,000. Hershey said this is a group that is often forgotten.
“Now think about that devastation to those families. They have never had closure,” Hershey said. “That bothers me a lot.”
After joining the Marines in 1965, Hershey was deployed to Vietnam where he was wounded several times. He had returned there in 1975 and helped rescue Marines as well as recapture the U.S. merchant vessel SS Mayaguez. He also assisted in the closure of, and safe airlifting of thousands from the U.S. Embassy in Saigon.
Hershey was also part of combat operations in Laos, Cambodia, Panama and Lebanon, where he was pulled from the rubble after the 1983 bombing on a Marine barracks in Beirut. He also saw duty in Operation Desert Storm targeting Iraqi forces after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, and served in places like Bangladesh and Somalia.
His final assignment before his 1994 retirement was in Hawaii as Sergeant Major, Pacific Forces, a critical role in which he was responsible for thousands of Marines’ lives.
“It’s like, we’re writing a check for our life, and at that moment in time, God has cashed that check. That’s what’s going on to save our country,” Hershey said. “That’s a dedication that you cannot say enough words about.”
Held before a crowd of about a couple hundred people at The Green at Crabapple…
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