PICKENS — On Memorial Day, the community gathered at Charles Johnson Memorial Park to remember and recognize the service and sacrifices one Pickens family made to their country.

“You can now come to this location and tell your children and your grandchildren about Charles Johnson,” Mayor Fletcher Perry said.

A crowd came out Monday morning for the unveiling of signs dedicating the roads near the park to Specialist Fourth Class Charles Johnson, Pickens County’s first Vietnam War casualty.

Johnson was a member of A Company, 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry of the U.S. Army and was killed in action on March 30, 1966, during Operation Lincoln in the Pleiku Province. He was 25.

Johnson was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and is

You must be logged in to view this content.