Each year, communities nationwide pause to honor U.S. military service members who have been awarded the Purple Heart. The medal is our nation’s oldest military commendation and recognizes those who were wounded or killed in combat.
This year, Habersham County joined the ranks of these communities, officially adopting the designation as a Purple Heart County. During the first public observance under this new designation, local veterans’ groups and state and local leaders held a ceremony honoring Habersham’s Purple Heart veterans. More than five dozen local veterans — both living and dead — were recognized with certificates and folded flags.
Here are the names of those veterans, including several added to the list since. Now Habersham recognizes and honors their service and sacrifice, as well as that of their families. As Grant-Reeves VFW Post 7720 Post Commander Barry Church said at the ceremony, “If you spill blood, it’s an accident. These men gave their blood.”
Habersham’s Purple Heart heroes
August 7, 2025
David K. Abbot, Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
Robert L. Allen, Killed in Action, World War II, Army
Charles Lamar Ash, Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
Clarence Scott Bailes, Wounded, World War II, Army
Jere A. Beery, Jr., Wounded, Vietnam War, Navy
Robert Charles Benton, Wounded, Vietnam, Army
Selby Glenn Benton, Wounded, World War II, Army
Charles Edward Booth, Wounded, World War II, Army
Ray Harrison Bowen, Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
Michael A. Bradfield, Wounded, Vietnam War, Marines
William “Bill” C. Bramblett, Wounded, World War II, Army
William Bray, Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
Gary L. Cantwell, Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
Tim Carr, Wounded, Iraq War, Army
Charles H. Carswell, Jr., Wounded, World War II, Army
William Ray Clark, Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
Jerry Eugene Clark, Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
Roger Coker, Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
James P. Cornelius, Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
David Lee Davis, Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
Dale D. Dean, Wounded, Vietnam War, Marines
John N. Diamond, Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
Paul L. Dickson, Wounded, Vietnam War, Marines
Phillip Randall Duff, Killed in Action, Vietnam, Army
Verner H. English, Wounded, World War II, Army
Michael Fain, Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
Eugene Lewis Frady, Wounded, Korean War, Army
Sherwood C. Freeman, Wounded, Vietnam War, Marines
Norman D. Fries, Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
Arthur Freeman Fry, Wounded, World War II, Army
Rufus Allen Garner, Wounded, World War II, Army
Lawrence Edward Hancock, Wounded, Vietnam War, Marines
James Reeves Hill, Wounded, World War II, Army
Jimmy Alvin Ivester, Wounded, Vietnam, Navy
Larry Paul Jones, Wounded, Vietnam, Army
Roy William Laprade, Wounded, Korean War, Army
Jerry Wayne Ledford, Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
Edison Everett Maness, Wounded, World War II, Army
J.C. Marcus, Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
Charles Thomas Martin, Killed in Action, Vietnam, Marines
Oscar Haskell Masters, Wounded, World War II, Army
William “Bill” Arch McCoy, Wounded, World War II, Army
D.W. “Bill” Miles, Wounded, Iraq War, Army
Richard L. Monroe, Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
John D. Mooneyham, Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
Howard C. Palmer, Wounded, World War II, Army
Millard Lamar Palmer, Killed in Action, Vietnam, Army
Tom L. Patton, Wounded, Vietnam War, Marines
Ronald A. Payne, Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
Dexter Dorsey Pratchard, Wounded, Vietnam War, Marines
Benjamin Harrison Purcell, Jr., Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
Samuel W. Richwine, Sr., Wounded, World War II, Marines
Jerry Eugene Rogers, Killed in Action, Vietnam, Army
Robert Wilbur Ruark, Wounded, World War II, Marines
Hugh Dorsey Rucker, Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
Wesley Robert Sexton, Killed in Action, Vietnam, Army
Johnny Singleton, Wounded, Vietnam, Army
Ross Patton Sosebee, Jr., Wounded, Gulf War, Air Force
Clifford Spry, Jr., Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
James Marion Sutton, Wounded, World War II, Army
Ray Tench, Wounded, World War II, Army
Theodore Hamilton Tench, Wounded, World War I, Army
James Herrick Ward, II, Wounded, Vietnam, Army
Charles T. Welborn, Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
Hilliard Almond Wilbanks, Killed in Action, Vietnam War, Air Force
William Kenneth “Ken” Wilkinson, Wounded, Vietnam War, Army
Vester Corbet York, Wounded, World War II, Army
Woodrow Wilson Zimmerman, Wounded, World War II, Air Force
Bruce B. Gant, Wounded, Vietnam, Navy
Tench Hezekiah, [Status Unknown], [War Unknown], [Branch Unknown]
