By By Lydia Grimes
features reporter
Chris Winchester loved baseball.
The Flomaton High School graduate grew up in East Brewton, playing Little League every summer.
Those memories led his mother, Gail Williams, to plan a memorial for her son — killed in Iraq nearly four years ago — at the new baseball fields on Williamson Street.
Cpl. Christopher Winchester joined the U.S. Marine Corps in February 2003, then went to Iraq a little more than two years later. He was killed when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb while he was out on patrol.
Winchester’s family and the community will celebrate July 4 by honoring his memory.
Last year, Chris’s family started a memorial fund to raise the money to purchase a memorial in his honor. That dream for their fallen hero will come to fruition on the Fourth of July, when the memorial will be dedicated.
The ceremony will take place at the Little League Baseball field on Williamson Street in East Brewton, at 4 p.m. There will be a full military service with a Marine Corps color guard. A flagpole will be placed near the memorial and a ceremony will be held.
Retired Marine Col. Charles Jackson, who is a resident of Brewton, said this is an appropriate way to honor Winchester.
Winchester’s family received a surprise when they were invited to meet with President George W. Bush in 2007.
After receiving the letter, President Bush arranged to meet Chris’s family while on a visit to Mobile.
Chris was the son of Gail and Greg Williams of Flomaton and Al Winchester of Brewton. He graduated from Flomaton High School in 2000.