Plaques honoring the Georgia Military Veterans Hall of Fame now are hung at the State Capitol. The class of 2023 was inducted at a ceremony in Columbus in November, and included two from Gwinnett, Lt. Col. James W. Williams of Norcross and former County Commissioner Carvis Williams of Snellville.
(Editor’s note: Georgia has had a Military Veterans Hall of Fame since 2012. The idea for it came from a retired colonel now living in Pine Mountain, who had been inducted into the Arkansas Military Hall of Fame. This person is also an inductee of the U.S. Army Ranger HOF and the College Reserve Officers HOF, located in his home town of Jonesboro, Ark. We asked him to explain how the Georgia program, which he founded, came about. –eeb)
By Paul Longgrear
Longgrear when wounded in Vietnam. Photos provided.
PINE MOUNTAIN, Ga. | In 2011, I was inducted into the Arkansas Military Veterans Hall of Fame. It was a touching experience, not just because of the induction service, but because of an incident. There was one inductee of the 15 that seemed a little out of place. He and his wife were scruffy-looking and under-dressed. They had with them three little rug rats, 6 to 10 years old, who were uncontrollable and distracting.
That is, until grandpa went up to be acknowledged. This gentleman had earned the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest award for honor in combat. While his citation was being read, the urchins calmed down and stared in silence as they heard what their grandpa had done to save the men with him in fierce combat.
Riding back to Georgia, I was quiet and contemplative. My wife asked my thoughts. “I was just wondering if Georgia had a Military Veterans Hall of Fame.” She responded: “I think they are going to.” I was ashamed of the way I had viewed that gentleman before I knew anything about him.
After days of prayer, I contacted Bob Poydasheff, a lawyer in Columbus. He started the paperwork to accomplish what became the Georgia Military Veterans Hall of Fame (GMVHOF), a 501c3 non-profit. Bob is a retired Colonel and graduate of The Citadel. Shortly after that, I called Paul Barnes, an Annapolis graduate and retired Navy Captain, who had commanded both surface and subsurface craft. He immediately agreed to assist me.
The late World War II Sgt. Carvis Williams of Snellville is among the 177 in the Georgia Military Veterans Hall of Fame. His daughters, Joan Ottinger left and Martha Cooper, are between a Junior ROTC Cadet at ceremonies recently for the hanging of the plaques with citations at the Capitol.
Finally, I contacted the man that had nominated me the year before for the U.S. Army Officers Candidate Hall of Fame, retired Colonel Rick White of Johns Creek, formerly of Norcross. I had been in his Officer Candidate School company.
When the GMVHOF was registered as a tax exempt organization, the next contact was with Senator Ed Harbison of Columbus, a two-tour combat veteran Marine with a Purple Heart Medal, the Georgia Senate Veterans Affairs Committee chairman. He asked how much money we wanted from the state. When I emphatically told him “None,” the committee voted us in right then.
In midyear 2012, we started contacting the various Veterans groups. One that really assisted us was the Vietnam Veterans Atlanta Businessmen’s Association. They videoed my appeal for nominations, and it went viral in Georgia.
The first class of 15 per year was inducted in 2012. Today there are 177 veterans who have been inducted in the GMVHOF.
So all of that combined to convince me of what I wanted the GMVHOF to be like. I desire that for each one inducted, it is as meaningful as the one that touched me then in 2012.
- To nominate someone for the GMVHOF, go to https://gmvhof.org.
Follow Us