By Staff
story by Lydia Grimes
Col. Charles Jackson had known Christopher Winchester since he was an infant. Mayor Terry Clark’s mother helped raise the East Brewton native.
They and other friends and family who watched him grow up gathered on the Fourth of July to celebrate the life of the late U.S. Marine corporal — and dedicate a memorial at one of his favorite boyhood haunts, the baseball fields in East Brewton.
Winchester was killed four years ago this month in Iraq, when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb.
R.T. Johnson Park has new baseball fields now, but when Winchester played there, it was a place filled with adventure, said his mother, Gail Williams.
Clark gave an emotional introduction as he remembered that his mother had helped to raise Winchester.
Jackson referred to Gail Williams as the “perfect” Marine mom.
Williams said she was pleased with the ceremony.
Williams said there are further plans to put a memorial in Flomaton, where Winchester graduated from high school.
Williams said she is proud of the way her son lived — and the way he died.