Gwinnett County officials, alongside United States Senator Jon Ossoff, will honor fallen military heroes at the 22nd annual Memorial Day ceremony. The event is scheduled for Monday, May 26, at 1 p.m., taking place indoors at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center auditorium in Lawrenceville due to inclement weather.
During the ceremony, two service members will be inducted into the Fallen Heroes Memorial. U.S. Army National Guard Spc. Travis Jordan Pameni died on July 31, 2024, in a noncombat-related incident in Baghdad, Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment based in Lawrenceville. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara lost his life in a helicopter crash during a training mission near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on January 29, 2025. O’Hara was from Lilburn and graduated from Parkview High School’s Marine Corps JROTC program in 2014.
The public is invited to attend the ceremony to remember Pameni, O’Hara, and other fallen heroes who sacrificed their lives for national and community service.
Brig. Gen. Theodore R. Scott III will deliver the keynote address. He is the commanding general for the 78th Troop Command in the Georgia Army National Guard and has made history as its first African American commanding general leading over 1,900 soldiers.
Speakers at the event include District 1 Commissioner Kirkland Carden, District 3 Commissioner and retired Army Lt. Col. Jasper Watkins III, and Senator Jon Ossoff. Law enforcement honor guards are also expected to participate.
Initially planned for the Fallen Heroes Memorial site, located on Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center grounds at 75 Langley Drive in Lawrenceville, the ceremony was moved indoors due to weather concerns.
The Gwinnett Fallen Heroes Memorial commemorates all Gwinnett residents who died while serving in military or public roles since its opening in 2003 with funds from private donations and Gwinnett County Government contributions.
The ceremony will be available live on Facebook @GwinnettGov and televised starting May 27 at 8 p.m. on TV Gwinnett—the local government access cable channel—and can also be streamed online via TVGwinnett.com or through Roku and Amazon Fire apps.
