October 5, 2026 - Twenty-five years ago this month, the United States opened the campaign that became Operation Enduring Freedom and the Global War on Terror. What began as airstrikes against al-Qaeda and Taliban targets in Afghanistan became America’s longest war and asked a generation of service members to carry it.
To honor those who served and those who did not come home, Shelby County Memorial Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8904 will hold a remembrance program and wreath laying on Friday, October 9, 2026, at 9am at the Veterans Memorial on the grounds of the 1885 Historic Courthouse in Center.
Shelby County felt that war in a personal way. Two soldiers with deep ties to this community were killed in action in 2008:
- U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Kevin “Casey” Roberts, 25, of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), was killed May 7, 2008, in Afghanistan’s Sabari District when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device. He was not born here, but he married a Shelby County woman, fell in love with this county, and asked to be buried at West Hamilton Cemetery in Shelbyville.
- U.S. Army Specialist Cory J. Bertrand, 18, of Center, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, was killed October 14, 2008, in Qazi Bandeh, Afghanistan, also by an IED—one month before his 19th birthday. He is buried at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Shelbyville.
The program will remember their service, the service of every Afghanistan veteran from this county and beyond, and the families who still carry the cost of that war.
The public is invited to stand with Post 8904 at the memorial and remember their fellow Americans.
