With warmer weather predicted, organizers of the 2019 Memorial Day ceremony set for Monday at the Garland County Veterans Memorial and Military Park are hoping for a large turnout to honor the nation's fallen veterans.
"The Memorial Day event is always a bigger crowd than Veterans Day," Jo West Taylor, Memorial Committee chairman, said. "It's too cold in the fall for a lot of our older veterans, but I'm hoping the warmer spring weather will bring more of them out."
The event is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at the memorial, located at 118 Orange St., near the Hot Springs Farmers & Artisans Market. In the event of rain, the ceremony will be moved under the pavilion at the market.
The keynote speaker this year is Charlie Brown, commander of Disabled American Veterans, State of Arkansas Chapter 7, who served more than 26 years with the U.S. Air Force, from 1969 to 1995, and is a veteran of both Vietnam and Desert Storm, a release said.
His worldwide assignments included Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, California, Germany, Sudan, Diego Garcia, Saudi Arabia and Arkansas. He served as a logistics manager/superintendent, responsible for the overall supervision of resources used in aircraft petroleum operations, for five major divisions and six subsections. He maintained a federal stock fund account in excess of $30 million and prepared and executed classified Emergency War Order contingency and exercise plans.
Brown's awards and military decoration include selection as the 314th Airlift Wing, Little Rock Air Force Base First Sergeant of the Year in 1989 and the 36th Tactical Fighter Wing, Bitburg AB Germany First Sergeant of the Year in 1985. He received three Air Force Meritorious Service Medals, the Air Force Commendation Medal and Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with V device for Combat Operations.
Brown is also an adjunct faculty member with Webster University and John Brown University where he instructs graduate and undergraduate courses in public and private sector human resource management, career management, situational leadership and management, organizational management, interpersonal communications, and Capstone.
In July 2014, he accepted the position of academic adviser for graduate studies at Webster University, Little Rock AFB campus. For more than 18 years, he has volunteered to conduct monthly lectures for the U.S. Department of Labor, Military Transition Assistance program advising and assisting veterans leaving military service in securing suitable and rewarding employment after the military, the release said.
Master of ceremonies for the event will be U.S. Army veteran Walt Thrasher, Memorial Committee vice chairman, with the VFW Post 2278 Honor Guard presenting the colors and retired Marine veteran Ross Rumore performing the Bugle Call to Order.
Soloist Cassie Ford will perform the national anthem and Don Newton, U.S. Army veteran and member of DAV, Chapter 5, will lead the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance. DAV Chaplain Kevin Tuohy will lead the invocation.
U.S. Air Force veteran Dick Holden, Memorial Committee secretary, will welcome the crowd and Taylor will introduce the committee members. U.S. Air Force veteran Mike Sharp with DAV Chapter 5, will introduce Brown.
U.S. Air Force veteran Karren Blankenship, Memorial Committee treasurer, will present the names of new bricks, pavers, panels and memorials, and Mike Kidder, Veteran Vietnam Veterans Organization, and Jim Shelor, a Memorial Committee member, will make the presentation of the wreaths and names of those who have passed.
Deadlines for ordering bricks and pavers each year is April 1 for the Memorial Day service and Sept. 1 for the Veterans Day service. "You need not to have been a veteran to purchase a brick or paver," the release said. "Community leaders have purchased them to support our servicemen and women."
Visit http://www.gcvets.com for more information.
Local on 05/23/2019