Join us to honor fallen military and public service heroes during the annual Memorial Day ceremony on Monday, May 29 at 1:00pm at the Gwinnett Fallen Heroes Memorial.
Gwinnett officials and the Gwinnett Fallen Heroes Memorial Committee will induct Correctional Officer Senior Scott Ozburn Riner into the Fallen Heroes Memorial. Riner was shot and killed outside the Comprehensive Correctional Complex in Lawrenceville on Tuesday, December 13, 2022.
The Gwinnett Board of Commissioners will provide remarks, and Army Sergeant Shelly-Ann Simpson will serve as this year’s keynote speaker.
Ms. Simpson is the Executive Director for Field Operations and Appeals for the Georgia Department of Veterans Service. Since entering state government in 2001, Ms. Simpson has served in numerous leadership roles, including her current appointment, where she leads more than 75 percent of the Georgia Department of Veterans Service workforce as they assist veterans with navigating the VA Claims and Appeals process. Born in Jamaica and raised in Mount Vernon, New York, Ms. Simpson joined the U.S. Army Reserves in 1994. She was deployed as part of NATO’s peacekeeping mission in Bosnia in support of Operation Joint Endeavor/Joint Guard in 1997, for which she earned a NATO medal. Ms. Simpson has served as the women veterans’ coordinator and the Department Service Officer for the American Legion. She is a tireless advocate for veterans in the state of Georgia. Ms. Simpson has a master’s in public administration, a graduate certificate in project management from Keller Graduate School of Management, and a bachelor’s degree from State University of New York, New Paltz. She is married to her high school sweetheart, and they live in metro Atlanta.
The Memorial Day ceremony will be aired live on Gwinnett’s Facebook page. It will also be televised on TV Gwinnett, the County’s local government access cable channel. TV Gwinnett programming is also available streaming and on demand at TVGwinnett.com.
The Gwinnett Fallen Heroes Memorial, located on the grounds of the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center, 75 Langley Drive in Lawrenceville, honors all Gwinnett residents who died in the line of duty in military or public service. The memorial opened in 2003 and was built with funds from private donations and Gwinnett County Government. For additional information about the memorial, visit GwinnettFallenHeroes.com.