PERRY, Ga. — Under the lights of the Georgia National Fair, the line forms year after year — hungry fairgoers waiting for a steak sandwich at two red, white, and blue trailers. Most have no idea that each order tells a story of service, sacrifice, and something quietly noble.
For 36 years, VFW Post 6126 in Perry has manned the grill.
“We started out with just a little tent and an outside grill and now we have two big trailers,” said Martin Habecker, commander of Post 6126 and a 21-year Marine Corps veteran. “We sell so much product that we can’t hardly keep up out there.”
The rush may end when the fair closes, but the mission continues long after. Every burger flipped and soda poured helps local veterans find dignity, mobility, and care.
“We like to spend money, we like to spend it on veterans,” Habecker said. “We do things like build ramps for veterans. We’ve recently remodeled a bathroom for a disabled veteran. We’ve done things like put up a ramp and a porch so a veteran could get in and out of his home with a wheelchair.”
Their reach stretches far, to Warriors Ranch in Dublin, Comfort Farms in Milledgeville, and Genesis Joy House in Warner Robins, which helps female veterans find their footing again.
And then there’s Tony Mullis, a name Habecker remembers easily.
“There’s a veteran who lives out in Hawkinsville. His name is Tony Mullis. And he lost both of his legs in Iraq, and he comes by, we feed him for free and his whole family,” Habecker said. “He’s given enough, so it’s great to see him, and I just love having veterans like that come visit us.”
The work runs on volunteers — Marines, soldiers, airmen — and even the “Top 3” from Robins Air Force Base, who last year ran a trailer themselves.
Reginald Brand, a 30-year Marine Corps veteran, found the VFW booth by chance in 2018.
“Marine, Army, Air Force, we all joke with each other so that right there, meeting them at a fair that wasn’t expected to see anything like that, we sat there and we just joked, we had fun, we just, it was camaraderie,” Brand said.
But beneath the laughter lies something more profound — the simple joy of seeing peace at work.
“I get to see my kids running around with their mother. I get to see your kids running around with you and your wife, and they’re having fun,” Brand said. “They’re not worried about trying to get in a bomb shelter or bullets whizzing past their head or what if I don’t wake up tomorrow, so when I see that everything that I fight for, everything that I fought for, I’m happy. I’ll do it again.”
The post’s generosity extends to the next generation — supporting JROTC students, sponsoring trips to Normandy, and feeding veterans from the Milledgeville war home.
“They brought out, I think, 23 veterans from that home. And they were in wheelchairs, some were ambulatory, and they brought him out in a big bus and brought him in there, and we fed them all,” Habecker said. “They kept asking for more food, more food, and we just kept feeding him and feeding him, you know, and it was a great time.”
This year’s fair carries special meaning — honoring veterans ahead of the 250th anniversary of most U.S. military branches.
“The 250th is a special time for America, you know, America was made by its veterans,” Habecker said. “It’s appropriate for the veterans to have their birthdays a year in advance of the country becoming a country and I’m just happy as I can be to help celebrate this with the fair.”
Beneath the bright lights and laughter of the midway, a deeper current runs — one of gratitude, service, and the quiet pride of those who never stopped giving back.
-h/t 11Alive]
