Mayor Earl Johnson was the speaker for the 2024 Memorial Day service held at the Covington Veterans Monument. The mayor shared stories of his father's service in World War II, and reminded those gathered that it is our jobs to be the kinds of Americans worth fighting for. 

The text of his speech follows:

"Today, our country pauses to observe Memorial Day, a day of reflection and remembrance of those who died while serving in the U.S. military.

"The holiday stems from the American Civil War, in which more than 600,000 Americans died.

"In the years after the Civil War, survivors on both sides of that horrific conflict began to decorate the graves of the war dead. These early Memorial Days were known as Decoration Days, and were held in late April and May, likely because there were flowers in bloom.

"Memorial Day originally honored only those lost while fighting in the Civil War. But during World War I, the United States found itself embroiled in another major conflict, and the holiday evolved to commemorate American military personnel who died in all wars.

"In 1968, Congress established Memorial Day as a federal holiday to be observed on the last Monday in May.

"Today, we remember more than 1.3 million American soldiers who have died in service to their country. That count begins with the approximately 25,000 Revolutionary War dead, most of whom perished as a result of being held prisoner of war by the British, and continues through the War on Terror, in which more than 7,000 Americans have made the ultimate sacrifice.

"As we pause on this day, I’d like to spend a few moments talking about my own family’s service.

"Eighty years ago, the United States and Great Britain were amassing more than 160,000 Allied troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Free France and Norway, in preparation for one of the greatest offenses every launched. Operation Overlord, now known as D-Day.

"My father was among those waiting in England and preparing for a yet-unknown offensive.

"He had set sail for England aboard the Queen Mary, which was double the size of the Titanic. Built in Scotland and commissioned to be part of a weekly transatlantic service, the Queen Mary was converted to a troop ship in 1939, stripped of its luxurious amenities and painted a camouflaged grey color.

"The Queen Mary could carry up to 16,000 troops at 30 knots, and outrun torpedo boats. Thus she came to be known as the “Grey Ghost.” Those 16,000 men aboard each transatlantic trip took turns sleeping in shifts, as there weren’t enough bunks for all of the troops.

"The planning for the D-Day invasion had begun years earlier, but the preparations intensified in December 1943 when U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force.

"As part of the plan, the Allies deceived German High Command into expecting a landing at Pas-de-Calais [pɑd(ə)kalɛ] in northern France. Instead, the Allies targeted a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coastline. The approximately 160,000 Allied troops were to land across five beaches, with British and American airborne forces landing inland.

"After a slight delay for weather, General Eisenhower decided to go. D-Day would be June 6, 1944. Paratroopers began landing after midnight, followed by a massive naval and aerial bombardment at 6:30 a.m.

"American forces faced severe resistance at Omaha and Utah Beaches. Despite the fierce opposition, Allied forces established a critical beachhead in Normandy.

"My father, Roland Riley Johnson, was among those who went ashore at Normandy as part of Army Company B of the 385^th military police battalion. He would have been 27 years old at the time of the invasion, which was older than most of the men who were drafted into the military for World War II. He was a college graduate and had worked as a teacher and principal at a small school before joining the military.

"Probably because of Daddy’s age, he was promoted to corporal when the troops got to England, and was later promoted to sergeant.

"Eighty years ago today, Daddy and all of the other troops waiting in England could only imagine what they would see when they were finally ordered to move. In 10 short days, what they imagined became a reality.

"Daddy has described to me what it was like when they crossed English Channel - what they saw and did - and all of it was horrible. The Germans had the high cliffs of the beach highly armed and hardened, and many Allied soldiers were shot and killed as they stormed the beaches.

"The troops were transported to the shore in Higgins Boats, which were designed to carry troops from ships to open beaches. Before Andrew Jackson Higgins of New Orleans designed and manufactured these boats, the landing at Normandy would have been almost impossible. Instead, navies would have had to attack ports, which were usually heavily defended.

"The Higgins Boats allowed armies to unload across an open beach and gave them more options in choosing their attack points. The design was adapted from boats used in the bayous of Louisiana, and had been patented only four months before the D-Day invasion.

"Daddy recalled the heavy shelling as they went ashore. A lot of men never got out of the boats.  He also described what was going on, up close to the beach where the troops walked out of the water.

"That water was red with American blood.

"At some point, he was put in charge of a squad of men. Their job was to provide protection to the trains used to move troops through the country. They would escort troops and supplies on the train, then have to get back to escort the next group the best way they co

"It was on a trip back south that Daddy was wounded. He and his men would travel on foot close to the rail line. On this particular day, there were German planes strafing the area and he was wounded in the leg. The injury put him out of action for only a short while before he was back with his unit.

"You’ve seen the scenes in the World War II movies of snipers preying on American troops. Daddy also had a story about a sniper they encountered in Germany – a woman barricaded in a bell tower.

"He and his men often had to fend for themselves, finding a meal wherever they could. He told a story about stopping in a café when he had not eaten for three days. The proprietor told him that the café was closed. Daddy took out the long trench knife he carried at his side and slammed it into the table.

"His men ate that day.

"Like most of the Americans in World War II, Daddy was no stranger to hunger. He had survived the Depression as the child of farmers in rural Conecuh County, Alabama, and knew what it meant to not have enough to eat.

"In another story he often told of fending for his men in Europe, he took cabbages from a garden to cook for his small group. When his commanding officer learned of this offense, he was ordered to scrape up some money and pay the farmer for the produce.

"The 385th was with the fight through France and Belgium, and was in Germany when the Germans surrendered.

"During this same time, Daddy had two brothers also serving with the Army. They went into Europe after the initial landing at Normandy, and were quickly shipped farther north. Both fought in the Battle of the Bulge in late 1944 and early 1945. By this time, the Allies’ supply lines had been stretched thin, and our troops were not prepared for the attack, nor for the freezing temperatures in the Ardennes.

"With God’s grace, Daddy and his brothers all made it home, unlike the 405,399 Americans who perished in World War II. 

"Most of the stories he told us were the light-hearted ones about finding something to eat, or meeting up with one of his brothers in France, and an impromptu trip they took to Paris.

"But the war never left him. At the end of his life, my brother Sam and I were standing at the foot of his hospital bed, talking with two of our cousins. All of a sudden, Daddy looked around and called me to his side. He said, “Tell those men not to go that way. There’s a bunch of Germans around there.”

"As we look back across those 80 years, it’s difficult for us to fathom the magnitude of the losses, and the sacrifices made by Americans to keep the world free. It’s a call Americans have answered time and again. It’s a price Americans paid with the blood of its finest.

"It is said that a hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.

"On this day, it is those 1.3 million heroes who gave their lives for the freedoms that were bigger than themselves whom we somberly remember and honor. We especially  remember the 280 men whose names are on our own Covington Veterans Monument.

"As President Kennedy once said, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter the words, but to live by them.”

"It is our jobs to be the kinds of Americans worth fighting for."

Jim Smith, who served for 11 years on the Utilities Board of the City of Andalusia, was remembered this week as an excellent boss, a born leader, and a person who made friends wherever he went.

Smith, who served for 20 years as CEO of Southeast Alabama Gas District (now Southeast Gas), died this week.

A native of Greenwood, S.C., Smith studied electrical engineering technology at Southern Technical Institute in Marietta, Ga., before launching what would be a 42-career in public utilities. He had managed the Fitzgerald, Georgia, municipal utility system for eighteen years when he was named assistant manager of the Southeast Alabama Gas District in Andalusia in 1984. Three years later, he took the helm as CEO.

Mayor Earl Johnson, who eulogized Smith at a celebration of life service on Thursday, said he was serving as general counsel of the gas district when Smith moved to Andalusia and the two became fast friends.

“Jim was a leader,” Johnson said. “No matter where you went, Jim knew people. He rose to the top of every organization he was a part of, including some national organizations.”

Johnson recalled that members of the 60s musical group the Swinging Medallions, whose most famous hit was “Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love)” were from Smith’s hometown.

“He knew those guys and stayed in touch with them,” Johnson said. “One time we were in Atlanta, and he got a phone call from one of the band members. We met up for dinner that night, and I guarantee you, we had a double shot of fun.”

Greg Henderson, who worked with Smith at Southeast Gas for nine years and succeeded him as CEO, said as a boss, Smith delegated authority and let people make mistakes.

“He would you enough rope to pull yourself up or hang yourself,” Henderson said. “He was also very patient. He could sit in a meeting for three hours, listening, and not say a word. That’s probably why he was a great turkey hunter.”

His friends described him as a passionate outdoorsman.

Both Johnson and Henderson recalled that if Gas District business took them to Birmingham, the trip home inevitably required stops to check hunting property somewhere.

“He’d stop and look for turkey tracks when it wasn’t even turkey season,” Johnson said.

Henderson said, “We’d be coming back from a meeting in Birmingham, and he’d want to show me the hunting property. We literally pulled off the Interstate late one Friday in the summer, still in dress shirts and ties, jumped on four wheelers, and rode around to look at a food plot. Then we went back to work.”

Seth Hammett was Smith’s across-the-street neighbor for 38 years.

“He could not have been a better neighbor,” Hammett said.

The two took several outdoors-related trips together, the most memorable of which was an 8-day trip to Alaska when they were joined by their sons. Smith, known for being “frugal with his own money, and everybody else’s, too” planned the excursion, which included traveling the backroads of the state in a rented van, camping, eating food they packed, and taking in incredible sights.

 “It was a wonderful trip,” Hammett recalled.

Smith maintained a perfect attendance record in Rotary for 50 years.

“Jim and I went to Rotary clubs all over this country,” Henderson said. “If we went somewhere on business, he’d check to see if there was a Rotary meeting anywhere around, we’d go to it. We met a lot of interesting people that way.”

Local pharmacist David Darby, who got to know Smith as a fellow Rotarian and fellow member of First Presbyterian Church, recalled how loyal and supportive Smith and his wife, Danna, were and are.

“There’s always been a thing at the church that members don’t send each other Christmas cards,” Darby said. “When Harco had sold and Laura and I were first putting this pharmacy together, right after Thanksgiving, we got a card in the mail from the Smiths.

“I thought that was odd because we didn’t do cards,” he said. “But when I opened it up, there was a stack of prescriptions and a note from Danna that said, ‘When you get (the pharmacy) open, fill all of these.’ They had literally had their doctors write new prescriptions so they could be our first customers.”

Johnson said in his eulogy of Smith that he spent many hours traveling with Smith, and most of those were spent telling stories and jokes and laughing.

“After a while, he’d look at me and say, ‘Boy, you ain’t right. I’m going to get you checked out.’

“I had Jim checked out,” he said. “And he was right. He was what we should all strive to be.”

Smith is survived by his wife of 61 years, Danna; his daughter, Amy; son, Cam; five grandchildren and one great-grandchild. For complete obituary information, click here.

The City of Andalusia recently was selected as a new member of the Innovate Alabama Network, and was awarded $65,000 in grant funding for technology in its new Heritage Park.

The Innovate Alabama Network serves as a comprehensive resource that connects communities, nonprofits and higher education institutions across the state who are fostering innovation in their own backyard. Through this designation program, Innovate Alabama recognizes those who are shaping the state’s ecosystem.

The City of Andalusia sought funding to expand its Smart infrastructure to offer Wi-Fi hotspots and video surveillance in its new Heritage Park, currently under construction on South Cotton Street.

“Our goals in the design and construction of Heritage Park came from public input in a series of Town Hall meetings,” Mayor Earl Johnson said. “Residents wanted more green space, and to make our downtown more liveable. This fits with our goal of making Andalusia both a destination location, and a place with a quality of life that attracts new residents to our area.

“We know from our experience with Christmas in Candyland that Wi-Fi access is an important component for many in choosing destinations and experiences. We are already seeing increased interest in development in the areas surrounding the new park, and this feature will further enhance that development.

“We are pleased to have been selected as a member of the Innovate Alabama Network, and look forward to many more years of innovation,” the mayor said.

Sgt. Gregory “Al” McGraw, Jr., was recognized Monday night as the Andalusia Police Department’s officer of the year in a program hosted by Opp AMVETS Post 23.

APD Police Chief Paul Hudson and his command staff selected McGraw for the award, which was presented by Capt. Brett Holmes, who supervises APD’s criminal investigation division, where McGraw has worked for the past three years.

McGraw began his law enforcement career as a corrections officer at the Covington County Jail in 2012. He later became a patrol officer and graduated from the Northeast Alabama Law Enforcement Academy. He was soon promoted to criminal investigations in the sheriff’s office.

“There, Al worked under the direction of Captain Mike Irwin, who Al still credits with helping him establish a strong investigation background,” Holmes said. “Mike and I are former partners at the District Attorney’s Office and often argue about who should receive the most credit for Al’s successes.

“Andalusia Police Chief Paul Hudson was so impressed with Al’s work, he hired him directly into APD’s criminal investigation division in the Summer of 2021,” Holmes said.

“Since that time, Al has taken on any and every type of case thrown his way,” Holmes said. “From financial exploitation to murder, Al approaches each case with the same consistent effort and methodical approach.

“In October of 2022, Al took the lead in the murder of 22-year-old Treyvous Cobbins. Over the next ten months, Al and his partners spent every extra moment of their workday putting together a very complex case that spanned from Covington County to nearby Conecuh, to even Kentucky, Ohio and Texas.

“I can attest that working certain aspects of a case that takes you outside of your jurisdiction adds many new difficulties,” Holmes said. “However, Al never wavered. He drove hundreds of times to Evergreen collecting evidence and chasing witnesses, took plane rides to other states conducting interviews, and hunkered down in his office countless hours watching and documenting video.”

Ultimately, McGraw arrested five individuals for the murder.

 “One of those individuals has been indicted for capitol murder and, to my knowledge, that is the first capital murder indictment in Covington County in almost 20 years,” Holmes said. “One of the five defendants has already pleaded guilty and the other four remain incarcerated with no bond after Al testified in an Aniah’s law hearing for each defendant.”

Holmes said the work McGraw did on that case alone was enough to earn him the officer of the year award. However, he said, McGraw also handles other difficult cases.

“Al also handles the lion’s share of our sex crimes at APD,” Holmes said. “In the two years he has led that unit, he has cleared every single sex case reported with an arrest or as unfounded. He also has a 100 percent conviction rate in those cases, thus far.”

Outside of his regular duties, McGraw is also a member of the Covington County Incident Response Team. He was recognized in 2020 by Sheriff Blake Turman for showing bravery in the line of duty when he and his team members took fire from an individual inside a house.

“Al was able to take action which neutralized the threat, and no one lost their life,” Holmes said.

McGraw also is a firearms instructor, speaks frequently in local schools, is a member of the Covington County Child Advocacy Center Multi-Disciplinary Team, and is the parttime chief in Lockhart.

Another of McGraw’s hobbies is keeping himself in good physical condition through weight training.

“As a result of that, Chief Hudson has assigned Al to work with new cadets hired by APD to ensure they meet the physical requirements to not only succeed at the police academy but excel,” Holmes said. “I have been lucky enough to assist Al in some of those training sessions and I submit to you that he does much more than train these young men and women physically. He also spends that time talking to them about what it is like to be a police officer and the pressures that come along with the job. He is truly a mentor to each he works with. 

“More importantly, Al is a good son, a good husband and a good father,” Holmes said. “I am sure of that by how proudly and openly he talks about his family.”

Holmes said he knew when he learned McGraw had been selected for the honor that he would be uncomfortable receiving it.

“Not that he doesn’t appreciate the honor, but right now he is sitting here thinking how all the things I have said were, or are, a team effort and not solely him,” Holmes said. “If there ever was a person that is a ‘We over me’ individual, it is this guy.”

After being presented the award, McGraw said he would not be any of the things he is without three important components in his life.

“I appreciate all those kind words by Captain but I wouldn’t be, nor would I have accomplished, any of those things without God, my family, and my co-workers,” McGraw said. “I can’t thank you all enough for this recognition.”

AMVETS Post 23 hosts the recognition dinner each year, and recognizes full-time officers chosen by department heads. Others honored Monday night included Officer Michael Holland, Opp Police Department; Sgt. Kaleb Piland, Florala Police Department; and Deputy Michael Cheshire, Covington County Sheriff’s Office. 

Retired Andalusia Police Captain Jamey Wismer was the keynote speaker for the event, the group’s seventh, and spoke about what it takes to be a police officer. Wismer delivered a powerful message and spoke of his love of law enforcement and what an impact it had on his journey as a husband, father and Christian.