Laurens County Veterans Affairs Military Hall of Heroes

What it is. The county's Veterans Affairs pages carry the program's own account: US Army retired SGT Carey D. Bolt, Jr., hired by the legislative delegation in 2004 as the county's veterans service officer, "established the Hall of Heroes Program in 2004", and the first ceremony was held in 2005. "This event is scheduled each year to honor present and past Veterans of Laurens County", in September or October. The program honours a nominee with a shadowbox and photo display; the requirements are an honorable discharge, a DD-214, a 4x6 photo and a shadowbox, on the nomination form the office posts each year (the 2025 form is posted). One honouree is fixed in the county's own display: Marine PFC Michael Francis "Mickey" Banks of Joanna, killed in Vietnam on September 7, 1969, whose shadowbox and photos hang at the Laurens County Hillcrest Courthouse with the print "Reflections - Vietnam", donated by his mother. Lights of Honor. The program's winter fundraiser hangs an ornament on a tree "that represents a hero and loved one": a $5.00 minimum donation for each veteran honoured "In Honor" or "In Memory", checks payable to "Laurens County Veterans Affairs Military Hall of Heroes Program", given or mailed to the Veterans Affairs Office, PO Box 193, Laurens, SC 29360. The 2025 form is posted on the page. The county's relationship to the program. In the year read, the Council's records show the program's name carried by two bodies: the office's own Hall of Heroes, and a separate "Laurens County Hall of Heroes" nonprofit whose grant application the Council refused 4 to 1 on October 13, 2025 - "it is of the legal opinion that they do not meet the criteria set forth in the application process due to their 501c(3) status" - and whose request was later rescinded by Director Bolt. The Intergovernmental Affairs and Economic Development Committee took the dispute up on February 20, 2026: the Hall of Heroes "is a great program that is for the good of the community", Committee Chair Patterson said, but "it is not a county board", and the Committee recommended a Council Member move an amendment to Ordinance #888 establishing a Veterans Affairs Committee with county oversight and a clear purview, and that Bolt draft the letter asking for it. The March 9, 2026 minutes record the "ongoing issue" with the request rescinded; no amendment was adopted in the window read, and the program's day-to-day work stays with the Veterans Affairs Office, whose pages carry it.