Aberdeen approved American Legion Post 72’s request to implement the “Hometown Heroes Banner Program” at its March 10 work session. The program honors living and deceased veterans and emergency responders from Aberdeen.
On Feb. 24, Post Commander Jerry Palmer provided samples to board members and verified the banners were the same size used in the downtown area and fit the existing hardware on the light poles.
Aberdeen funds the first five, and the next banners will be funded by sponsors, such as family members, churches, civic groups, schools and historians. The first five banners cost $459.75 plus tax for the bulk order, which served to exclude a service charge.
The first banners will be on Main Street and will hang in honor for periods of three to six days during Memorial Day, Independence Day, Fourth of July, Veterans Day, and requested holidays.
Palmer will store the banners, and public works will install them.
The board wants citizens to recommend and sponsor as many hometown heroes as possible and to provide verifiable documentation on their hero nominees. Please call the town at 910-944-1115 for more information.
To nominate and sponsor your hero in a Sandhills Sentinel article, please email [email protected].
Feature photo: A sample of an honorary banner. Photo contributed by American Legion Post 72 Commander Jerry Palmer.
~Written by Sandhills Sentinel journalist Stephanie M. Sellers. Stephanie is also an English instructor at Central Carolina Community College. Her fictional work includes When the Yellow Slugs Sing and Sky’s River Stone, and a suspense, GUTTERSNIPE: Shakespearean English Stage Play with Translation, and a March 21, 2025, release published by Golden Storyline Books, a science fiction, Amagi.
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