Dear Editor,

We would like to invite all military veterans and their spouses to our 2011 Memorial Day Banquet. This event will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday May 21 at Maranatha Family Center in Cheraw. Last year, our Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day banquets had great attendance with an atmosphere of true comradeship and American veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam and war time and peace time through the present gathered. We, as Americans, after hearing the news of the elimination of Osama Bin Laden as a terror threat to the world felt a great sense of gratitude and pride towards our military. It made us proud to be American. This same gratitude and pride has been felt many times by Americans as our young men stormed the beaches of Normandy, flew missions over Nazioccupied Europe, or island-hopped across the South Pacific. We felt this same sense of pride when in 1991 Iraq capitulated after 100 hours of war. Memorial Day is set apart to remember that freedom is not really free — it has a high cost. It is the right thing to do honoring those who served and remember those who sacrificed their lives.

If you are planning to attend this banquet, call (843) 921-8123 or (843) 537-1285 and make reservations. As always, this banquet is free and we encourage every veteran to make plans to attend. May God continue to bless America and may we always be one nation under one God.

Allen L. Usher, pastor

Maranatha Family Center