LAURENS COUNTY, S.C. — Twenty people who served the nation or protected Laurens County joined the Laurens County Hall of Heroes on Sunday afternoon at the group’s 2026 induction ceremony.
The class was split evenly between 10 veterans and 10 first responders. The veterans served in eras running from World War II and Korea through Vietnam and the Cold War to Desert Storm and the Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom operations.
The veteran inductees are Army Cpl. Charles G. Bruice, World War II and Korea; Marine Cpl. Michael G. Grazioso, Desert Storm; Army Sgt. Markell G. Madden, Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom; Army Capt. Robert T. (Bob) McLean, Cold War era; Army PFC Frank L. McMahan Jr., World War II; Marine Capt. Bobby E. (Rob) O’Bryant, Desert Storm; Army Sgt. Jerome D. Parson, Vietnam; Army Lt. Col. James M. (Jimmy) Young, Enduring Freedom; Air Force Tech. Sgt. Bruce Wayne Chalk, Vietnam and Cold War era; and Navy Seaman Ralph L. Gunnels Sr., Cold War era.
Among the first responders are two longtime dispatchers: Sonya S. Barrett, who has worked for the Laurens Police Department and the sheriff’s office since 1996, and Callie Burnside, who spent 1979 to 2019 with the sheriff’s office. Two former Laurens fire chiefs were also honored, Robert Carl Dial, who served with the department from 1937 to 1961, and Bill Hughes, whose service ran from 1985 to 2022.
The rest of the first responder class includes EMTs Isaiah E. Kappenman and Denise Matthews of Laurens County EMS; Chief Deputy Arthur (Red) Holt and Deputy Ryan Floyd Pitts, who both worked for the sheriff’s office in Joanna; Capt. Charles Boyce, whose career with the sheriff’s office and the Gray Court and Fountain Inn police departments ran from 1985 to this year; and Lt. Robert I. Plaxico, a sheriff’s office lieutenant who also served as Joanna’s fire chief.
Col. David Fowler and Josh Cannon, a first sergeant with the South Carolina Highway Patrol, gave the keynote speeches. During the program, Eric Morse honored his father, Robin Morse, who was recently enshrined in the state’s Law Enforcement Hall of Fame. The Hall of Heroes board is chaired by Morris L. Madden.
The Hall of Heroes was set up in 2015 as an independent nonprofit and has worked with the Laurens County Veterans Affairs Office since then, with honorees recognized in the halls of the Laurens County Courthouse. Its board voted in 2022 to add first responders, and the first ceremony for them followed in 2023. The group held its first combined ceremony for both groups on Sept. 21, 2025, when it inducted six veterans and six first responders.
