Ceremony moved indoors due to inclement weather 

(Lawrenceville, Ga., May 23, 2025) – Gwinnett County officials, joined by United States Senator Jon Ossoff, will honor fallen military heroes during the 22^nd annual Memorial Day ceremony on Monday, May 26 at 1 p.m. at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center auditorium in Lawrenceville.

Two service members will be inducted into the Fallen Heroes Memorial during the event:

• U.S. Army National Guard Spc. Travis Jordan Pameni, who died July 31, 2024, in a noncombat related incident in Baghdad, Iraq. Pameni was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, based in Lawrenceville.
• U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, who died in a helicopter crash during a training mission near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on January 29, 2025. O’Hara grew up in Lilburn and graduated from the 2014 class of Parkview High School’s Marine Corps JROTC program.

The public is invited to attend the ceremony to remember Pameni, O’Hara and other fallen heroes who have sacrificed their lives to serve and protect our nation and our communities.

The keynote address will be given by Brig. Gen. Theodore R. Scott III, commanding general for the 78^th Troop Command in the Georgia Army National Guard. Highly awarded and decorated, Scott made history becoming the 78th’s first African American commanding general, where he leads more than 1,900 soldiers. He also serves as the deputy commanding general at the U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence, and he is the senior military intelligence officer in the Georgia Army National Guard. 

Officials scheduled to speak 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 will also participate in the ceremony.

The ceremony, originally scheduled to take place at the Fallen Heroes Memorial, has been moved indoors due to forecasted inclement weather.

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.

The Memorial Day ceremony will also stream live on the County’s Facebook page @GwinnettGov. It will be televised beginning at 8 p.m. on May 27 on TV Gwinnett, the County’s local government access cable channel. TV Gwinnett programming is also available streaming and on demand at TVGwinnett.com, as well as on the TV Gwinnett apps for Roku and Amazon Fire.