LEDGER COLUMNIST

Up until about a year and half ago, most local veterans thought Cherokee County's Veterans Affairs officer Sammy Willard was doing a pretty good job.

What a difference a few months makes.

Willard is now embroiled in a feud with numerous veterans and is the subject of a S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) investigation into accusations of misconduct in office.

A majority of the members of the Cherokee County Veterans Council — made up of representatives of the various veterans organizations in the county — have rescinded their support of Willard.

The feud apparently started about 18 months ago when a volunteer driver for the local VA office, Gaffney City Councilman Tom Reid, began receiving complaints about Willard. Reid, a member of the Veterans Council, said he told those who had complaints to contact members of the Legislative Delegation.

Veterans hold an advisory election every two years to aid the delegation in their choice and even though the officer is paid by the county, he answers to the delegation.

According to Reid, Willard became upset when he learned that Reid was referring complaints to the delegation and confronted him about it.

"He asked me if I was going around telling people that I'm not operating the office right," Reid said. "Sammy then told me I could kiss his ass and bragged about it to other veterans and the senator (Harvey Peeler)."

Willard has declined repeated attempts by this newspaper to discuss the issue. The rift festered and came to a head at a meeting of the Legislative Delegation in January of this year.

The following is from an article about that meeting published in the Jan. 4, 2008 edition of The Gaffney Ledger:

Cherokee County Veterans Affairs Officer Sammy Willard publicly apologized to Gaffney City Councilman and Vietnam War veteran Tom Reid during Thursday's meeting of the Cherokee County Legislative Delegation.

The apology came after Reid took Willard to task for his office's treatment of county veterans and negative comments from Willard that had riled the longtime city councilman.

State Sen. Harvey Peeler (R-Gaffney) asked Willard to attend the meeting to answer questions about problems with the veterans office in transporting veterans seeking medical treatment.

Reid did not go into detail regarding his dispute with Willard, but he was clearly unhappy with the Veterans Affairs Officer.

"It is unbecoming that a man should risk his life overseas to fight for our country to come back to Cherokee County and be treated in this way," Reid said. "(Sammy Willard) started off as the best Veterans Affairs Officer we ever had. Something has happened with the Veterans Affairs Office along the way. All veterans should be treated with dignity and respect."

At one point, things got so heated that Peeler took the unusual step to request retired Cherokee County Veterans Affairs Officer Rocky Byars mediate the dispute between Willard and Reid.

Members of the Veterans council, including Reid, had hoped the issue had died down, but told The Ledger on Friday that Willard fanned the flames when he began an intense public relations campaign, ordering his two clerks to type and fax letters of support from other veterans to local newspapers.

Veterans Council members said that when Willard withdrew the VA office's support for the annual Memorial Day service, any hope of reconciliation was lost.

"There is no way we can support him when he withdrew his support for the men and women at the Memorial Day service and he didn't even show up," local Marine Corps League Commandant Frank Sossamon said.

A few weeks later Willard's two clerks informed Sossamon and other veterans of concerns they had about Willard's performance as VA officer. Those concerns ended up before the Legislative Delegation, which asked SLED to investigate.

Just last week, Willard fired the two clerks, both longtime county employees. Even without hearing Willard's side and realizing that he has some strong support among veterans, it is apparent that his continued service will only cause further disruption to the primary function of the office — serving the veterans of this county.

He should resign immediately so the delegation can appoint a replacement who can restore peace and harmony among our veterans and serve them all with the dignity they deserve.

Cody Sossamon (cody@gaffneyledger.com) is publisher of The Gaffney Ledger.