Patriotic tunes filled First Baptist Church of Pembroke on Sunday when the church and the city together hosted the second annual Patriotic Picnic and Concert featuring the 3rd Infantry Division Band from Fort Stewart.
Hundreds of people, like church member Ruth Austin, filled the sanctuary in anticipation of the music after pleasing their palate with picnic-style food in the church’s social hall. Though it wasn’t Austin’s first time hearing the band, she was excited.
“I’m looking forward to the music,” she said before the concert. “I really love patriotic music.”
Local television personality Sonny Dixon was the master of ceremonies for the event and took a few minutes before the concert started to introduce special guest speaker Maj. Gen. Robert “Abe” Abrams, who spoke about what Independence Day means for soldiers.
“There’s a couple of things soldiers think about on Independence Day because ultimately what those of us who serve, what we’re about is, is protecting and defending our freedoms,” the commanding general for the 3rd ID told the crowd.
He also referenced the song “I’m Proud to be an American” by Lee Greenwood and noted how thankful soldiers are for the opportunity to serve the country.
“That song today … it should resonate with you because it resonates with the rest of us and we are very, very thankful for the opportunity to be able to serve our country and provide the freedoms that we have that’s so uniquely American to 300 million plus Americans,” he said.

Read more in the July 4 edition of the News.