Lexington County Veterans Memorial — Lexington, South Carolina
SC Picture Project | Lexington County | Lexington County Veterans Memorial
The Lexington County Veterans Memorial was crafted from over 80 tons of granite and erected in 2002. Located in the Town of Lexington.
The monument is dedicated to World War II, Korea, and Vietnam veterans. The monument has four faces, each inscribed with a quotation.
Here are the quotations inscribed on the monument:
“I do not believe that the men who served in uniform in Vietnam have been given the credit they deserve. It was a difficult war against an unorthodox enemy.” Gen. Wm. C. Westmoreland
“Duty, honor, country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying point to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.” Gen. Douglas MacArthur
“In this column I want to tell you what the opening of the second front entailed, so that you can know and appreciate and forever be humbly grateful to those both dead and alive who did it for you.” Ernie Pyle
“Posterity: You will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.” John Quincy Adams
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7 Comments about Lexington County Veterans Memorial
March 20th, 2018 at 10:53 pm
Good news Mr. Thomas, we found him for you. We want to thank you for your service and are glad to help you find him in this very small way. He has an online memorial here: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/184868938/william-edward-teer. He is buried in
Saint Peters Cemetery in Columbia, if you go to the website, there is even a photo of his grave. We hope this helps you all! Thanks again for all of the service and sacrifices you all have made for us, God Bless!
March 20th, 2018 at 8:18 pm
I am researching for my Marine Brother who served in Nam in 66-67. I was going into country as he was coming out. His dear friend Marine LCPL William Edward Teer died in 1966 in Nam. He was born January 3, 1946 and was from West Columbia. We are trying to locate his grave. He was single and 20 years old. His body was recovered and we believe he is buried in Columbia, probably in West Columbia . He was of the Catholic faith. If you can help with finding his gravesite , it would be of great benefit and satisfaction to be able to visit his grave.
Thank you,
Phillip Thomas USAF Ret. E 7
October 14th, 2017 at 12:03 pm
Thank you so much for your dedication and service!
October 13th, 2017 at 8:00 am
I was the secretary and later treasurer of this project. My name is below Thomas Comerford. I wrote a historical booklet on this monument which is available in the South Carolina Room, Lexington County, SC Library. Beautiful monument.
January 10th, 2016 at 9:49 am
I don’t understand why the memorial has the ending year of 1972 for Viet Nam. The last US casualties took place in April 1975 when two Marines from the Embassy were killed in action at the airport and when two Marine pilots were lost in a crash at sea of their CH-46 helicopter. All four were lost during Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of Saigon. This operation qualifies participants for the Viet Nam Service Medal. I don’t know how many Lexington County residents might have participated. I was there as a member of F Battery, 2nd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment(artillery) attached to 3rd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment (infantry). There were numerous other 3rd Marine Division units there as well.
October 3rd, 2013 at 9:07 am
You are correct! Thank you – we have fixed the page!
October 2nd, 2013 at 8:24 pm
I think the description of the monument should say 80 TONS of granite rather than 80 pounds. 80 pounds of granite would make a very small monument indeed.