WAYCROSS, Ga. – The Waycross community gathered on Friday to honor Army Sergeant Kennedy Sanders, the 24-year-old who was among the three soldiers killed in a drone attack in Jordan in late January.
Family, friends, veterans, and colleagues paid their respects at Sanders’ wake. Many of them wore purple – her favorite color.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp also attended the wake, spoke with Sanders’ parents and entered the city auditorium where she lies in honor Friday.
“There’s no greater sacrifice in this country than what she gave, and it was well and good that we should honor that,” Kemp said.
Specialist Shaunteria Taylor was in the same unit as Sgt. Sanders.
“Once you come together, I mean, those become your brothers and sisters in arms. So it definitely gives you a different perspective on it’s not something that everybody would understand. But it is a hard grieving process, just to know that she won’t be here. And she was the optimistic one in the group, the one that was always laughing, always smiling. So she’ll definitely be missed, for sure,” Taylor said.
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Sanders is also missed by many in the small town of Waycross.
Patricia Dawson Fields told News4JAX she’s known the Sanders family for decades.
“She’s just a kid doing the best she could do for our country. She was serving our country. She was not serving herself. She was just absolutely lovely. She died doing what she loved to do,” Fields said.
People paying their respects have been writing messages, which will be buried with Sanders.
A goodbye fit for a hero, and a reminder of the sacrifice of servicemembers and their families everywhere.
Fields said she was hurt to learn the news of Sanders’ passing.
“Because I have grandchildren in the military right now. I have one, just getting ready to graduate high school, getting ready to go to the Navy. And with everything that’s going on, it’s hard. But we’re committed to serving our country. And that was what it was all about for her. And for us. We supported her and all the military people. We’re just so thankful,” Fields said.
Sanders’ funeral service is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Saturday at the Ware County Middle School Auditorium.
It will be followed by another procession through Waycross to Oakland Cemetery on Alice Street, where Sanders will be laid to rest.
In lieu of flowers, the Sanders family has asked for contributions to be made via Zelle to Oneida Oliver-Sanders at oneidaoliver@yahoo.com.