FLORENCE, SC- The 2017 Florence Veterans Day Ceremony will be held at the Florence Veterans Park, 601 Woody Jones Blvd, Florence, on Saturday, November 11, beginning at 11:00 AM. This year, we will pay homage to pay our Vietnam Veterans. A beautiful Indian black granite monument weighing 4300 pounds, hand etched by the same artist who etched the internationally acclaimed US Army Monument dedicated last year, will be dedicated. In addition, 36 names of Pee Dee Area veterans will be added to our Wall of Honor. The speaker this year is the highly decorated MG (retired) RS “Steve” Siegfried, who served two tours in Vietnam.
Steve Siegfried retired from the U.S. Army on 1 October 1995 after thirty-four years of service. He enlisted in 1961, rose to the rank of Sergeant, was commissioned a 2d Lieutenant of Infantry from Officer Candidate School in 1963 and subsequently rose to the rank of Major General. From December 1991 to March 1994 he was the Commanding General of Fort Jackson, South Carolina. His last position in the Army was as Deputy, The Inspector General and finally as Acting, The Inspector General, U.S. Army. During his thirty-four years of service he served overseas tours in Panama, Germany, Great Britain and two combat tours in Vietnam.
He proudly wears two Distinguished Service Medals, the Silver Star, The Soldiers medal for Heroism, the Legion of Merit, three Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts, as well as twenty-seven other personal awards for bravery, achievement and service. He also has earned the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, American and British jump wings and the Army Staff and Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge. In 1985 he was inducted into the Officers’ Candidate School Hall of Fame. He was awarded the Order of the Palmetto by the Governor of South Carolina in 1995, and in 1997 he was awarded the Order of Saint Maurice, the highest recognition the Infantry can confer on one of its own. Steve was the recipient in 2002 of the SGT William Jasper Freedom Award, presented by the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce.
