This Saturday, November 13, 2021, a Veterans Event will be held in Summerville’s Dowdy Park at 11am.  Guest speaker will be Brigadier General Richard “Dwayne” Wilson who is Commanding General of the Georgia Army National Guard.  General Wilson has served in Operation Desert Storm, Operation Desert Shield, and Operation New Dawn in Iraq as well as missions in Albania and Kosovo.
During the program, nineteen Individual Veteran Memorials will be unveiled and dedicated.  These will make a total of 688 memorials displayed in the park.

Everyone is invited to attend, enjoy the program, and honor those men and women who have served and those on active duty around the world.

After the program, the local veterans organizations invite all veterans and their families to a luncheon at the Chattooga County Memorial Home located at 818 Memorial Drive  Summerville, GA 30747 in the Pennville community. 

Both events are sponsored by our local veterans organizations: VFW Post 5688, American Legion Post 129, VFW Auxiliary, Sons of that American Legion, and the Veterans Memorial Park Committee.

Brigadier General Richard “Dwayne” Wilson assumed the duties of Commanding General for the Georgia Army
National Guard on 9 October 2020.

A native of Murphy, North Carolina, Brigadier General Wilson enlisted in the Army Reserve in 1987 as a Combat
Engineer. In 1993, after serving in both the Army Reserve and the North Carolina Army National Guard, he received
a Regular Army commission from the University of North Georgia as an Aviation Second Lieutenant. He has
commanded at the company thru brigade level in both the active and reserve components of the Army. Previous assignments have included Director of the Joint Staff, Chief of Staff, Director of Aviation and Safety, and the Deputy
Chief of Staff for Logistics for the Georgia Army National Guard.

His deployment experience has included participation in Operations’ Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia and Iraq (1990-1991), as well as supporting contingency operations in Albania (1999) and during Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo (2001). His most recent deployment was in support of Operation New Dawn in Iraq (2010-2011).
Brigadier General Wilson’s education includes a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from the University of North Georgia. He later earned a Master of Arts degree from Webster University in Management and Leadership, and a Master of Science degree from the United States Army War College in Strategic Studies.

His military awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal and the Army and Air Force Commendation medals. Additionally, he is a graduate of the Army’s Airborne School, Air Assault Course and is a Master Army Aviator, rated in both rotary and fixed-wing aircraft.

Brigadier General Wilson and his wife Samantha are blessed with four children: Nathanael, Hannah, Noah, and Sarah Grace. The Wilson’ currently reside in Canton, GA.