Independence, Mo.--Lt. Col. Lawrence Cannon, commander at Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, spoke on his military experience at the dedication of the Veterans Way Memorial in Blue Springs, Mo., April 2.
The Veterans Way Memorial was dedicated to the sacrifice, courage and valor of all veterans who have served in the United States.
The memorial consists of a round plaza containing bronze seals of the U.S. military branches and granite benches for visitors, along with flags and a sculpture called "Restless Recovery."
Each major war was introduced with music and commentary.
Cannon shared his experiences while serving in Afghanistan.
He spent eight years in Korea and Germany supporting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Whether it was helping to deploy ammunition, personnel or equipment, most of what I did every day somehow supported the war effort," said Cannon. "I was ordered to Kabul, Afghanistan in September 2009. My unit was tasked to establish the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, Joint Command in Kabul. Our purpose was to take over the prosecution of the warfight at the operational and tactical level to allow the ISAF headquarters to concentrate its efforts at the Strategic level on issues of diplomacy, international affairs, governance and economic development."
'In Afghanistan, we had to change how we thought about the conduct of war," said Cannon. "We were fighting a counter insurgency and had to figure out how to protect the population, establish legitimate governance and support economic growth in the country. Our goal was to save Afghan lives and stand up a country, a government and a military that could function on its own. That will be our legacy in Afghanistan."
"[At Lake City Army Ammunition Plant] one-sixth of our 2,700 employee workforce on plant is veterans. We fully understand the importance of service to the nation. I always tell the workers on plant that what they do every day is service to the nation," said Cannon.
Part of Joint Munitions Command, Lake City Army Ammunition Plant is the provider of Department of Defense small caliber ammunition and performs reliability testing for all calibers of small arms.
From its headquarters at the Rock Island Arsenal, JMC operates a nationwide network of conventional ammunition manufacturing plants and storage depots, and provides on-site ammunition experts to U.S. combat units wherever they are stationed or deployed. JMC's customers are U.S. forces of all military services, other U.S. government agencies and allied nations.
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