May 30, 2017 - A Memorial Day program was held on the Timpson square Monday, May 29, 2017 hosted by American Legion Post 90.
The program was opened with an invocation given by Mike Fodge, Vice Commander, followed by Debra Pate Smith, Mayor, welcoming everyone to the event and thanking both the American Legion Post and Timpson ISD.
Curt Penhallegon, Post Commander, gave introduction remarks to all present.
Flags were posted by the Timpson Youth Advisory Council and the Pledge of Allegiance was presented by Richard Hightower, Celeste Bush and Celine Bush. This was followed by the National Anthem as presented by Vernett Richardson.
James Cope, and Jamie Moore made the presentation of a memorial wreath and placed it before the Timpson Veterans Memorial.
Moore then took to the podium and addressed the audience. He imparted to all present how his outlook has changed for him since he has been in the military.
"Because of the last three months of my life, I have a different perspective on things. One of the main things that people do on Memorial Day is they tell you that, 'today is a day that you're going to honor individuals so you don't need to go out there and forget about them and have fun,'" said Moore.
It would go without saying those individuals would not want to be forgotten, and Moore explained not celebrating would go against what those who made that ultimate sacrifice would want.
"Today is a day of celebration, it truly is. Those individuals gave their lives so that we could do that, so that we could grill in our backyards, so that we could go to the lake. That's what those individuals would have wanted," said Moore.
He said the memory of those who sacrificed lives on in others, and it's up to everyone to honor them and carry on their legacy.
Jesse Maynard, Sergeant of Arms, and Celeste Bush read the names of fallen heroes of past wars.
World War I
PVT. Preston Archer, PVT. Owen E. Barnes, PVT. Jodie Ferguson, LT. Clyde T. Morrison, SGT. Ernest H. Shipp, PVT. Nathan H. Tims
World War II
PVT. John C. Anderson, SGT. Bruce C. Baker, Jr., PVT. Marvin Beard, PFC. James L. Beckham, PVT. Joseph B. Brannon, SGT. Richard Dale Bray, Lt. John Bussey Byrn, PFC. Rayford H. Ceal, SGT. Philip H. Childs, PVT. James Alton Cleveland, PVT. Bobbie Compton, PVT. Joseph S. Connell, Lt. Kenneth Crausby, PVT. Troy F. Crawford, S/SGT. Austin E. Dunaway, PFC, Robert Henry Essery, LT. Hulen M.Hardage, PVT. Ralph E. Herndon, PFC. Dudley H. Holt, PVT. Arthur T. Hutcherson, SGT. Carl H. Jones, PVT. Clarence M. Mahan, PFC. Ernest E. Mahan, SGT. John W. Minter, PVT. Hoya B. Murphy, CPL. Pershing Pate, PFC. Arlen R. Rhame, SGT. Ben R. Rhodes, LT. William Rayford Todd, CPL. Richard M. Wallace, SGT. Vernon B. Walters, CPL. Sidney E. Watson, PFC. Earl M. Welch, PFC. Bedford Whiteside, Jr., S/SGT. Syl Winfrey, Jr., PFC. Albert Youngblood
Korea
CPL. Cecil A. Brittain, USMC; T-SGT. Clifford (Jack) Hughes, US Army
Vietnam
PFC. Ted Wayne Adams, US Army; SGT. William Henry Eaden, US Army; SGT. John Wayne Stilley, US Army
Following the reading of names, Commander Penhallegon returned to the podium to share some history of Memorial Day and to relate a story of an experience while overseas. He shared Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day and was to be a day of remembrance for those who've died in service of the United States of America. Waterloo, New York was officially proclaimed the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966.
The tale which Penhallegon shared with the audience was about on occurrence four years previous in Qatar during a Fallen Warrior ceremony at that location. Fallen soldiers were brought to the location where he was stationed before they would be flown back to the United States.
Penhallegon explained, whatever the hour of arrival of those Americans who were being transported home for burial, the remains were handled in a dignified manner.
"We desired and required ourselves to do a dignified transfer of those remains from that inbound aircraft onto the outbound aircraft that was going to take it across the pond back home," said Penhallegon.
He told the story of the unfortunate circumstance of a young man enlisted in the military who was traveling with his father's remains to deliver him home. In addition to that, he wanted to participate with the other servicemen in the Fallen Warrior ceremony for his father and the other six fallen soldiers on the plane.
This particular ceremony was different as Penhallegon explained, because on all other occasions they knew the soldiers on the plane were Americans; however, this time there was a family member involved.
"You could see the weight he was carrying on his shoulders. His uniform was still dirty, I'm not going to tell you there was blood on it, because it was dark and I couldn't see. But it's very likely that he may have still had blood on his uniform," said Penhallegon. "He was walking down the stairs and he had another Senior NCO with him to help get him through this."
The servicemen performed the ceremony and as the caskets were carried off, Penhallegon said they held the sharpest solute they had ever given. As the casket containing that young man's father was carried by, he sobbed while he saluted and watched his father's coffin go by.
Following the ceremony, Penhallegon spoke to the young man and he said, "Young man, I want you to know that today and tomorrow, a year from now, 10 years from now and 100 years from now, your country and every person in that country understands. Not like you do, but we understand, respect and appreciate the sacrifice that you and your family have made and I'm so sorry that you're having to go through this. But, I want you to know that I'm here, and your country is here for you. Be safe and take your daddy home."
Penhallegon to this day does not know who the young man or his father were, but he said it broke his heart that both the young man and his father signed up and took the oath of enlistment and the young man had to bring his father home in a box to his mother.
After Penhallegon told his story, he asked everyone to be thoughtful to veterans on Memorial Day, and instead of thanking them for their service on that day, be thoughtful of their grief.
"Most service members who come home, they feel two things. First off I'm sure they feel a profound gratitude that they were able to make it home. Back to their family and the country that they love. But, they perhaps feel a profound level of guilt that their buddy, their brother-in-arms, perhaps their family member, they're father, he didn't get to come home. That's a heavy, heavy burden and a guilty, guilty burden that a lot of folks carry that are in uniform," said Penhallegon.
Instead of thanking them for their service during that time, Penhallegon suggested letting them know you are very aware of the ultimate sacrifice made by others, and you stand with them in mourning as a nation. He suggested those who understand the sacrifice remind the family members they mourn with them as well.
"These are our greatest heroes, the ones that you don't get to see, the ones that are represented by these white crosses. I would also remind you that the family members at home pay a significant cost. That mother, and when that son, when he got home and took that uniform off he too became a member of that family that paid that significant loss," said Penhallegon.
After Penhallegon spoke, he played the song Traveling Soldier by Dixie Chicks for everyone to hear.
James Cope, 1st Vice Commander, presented recognition to any Gold Star families present for the ceremony. Cope married into a Gold Star family and he shared the strong emotional effect of that loss has had on himself and those family members.
He explained his brother-in-law who he never knew was returned from Vietnam after being killed in action, as he was going in country in 1967.
"You have no idea what it's like to wonder what could have been, what should have been, or even why. The sacrifices that Gold Star means is that they live that event every single day. Whether it's the soldiers that approach the house on a New Year's night with a word, and then all of the years, and days and hours and minutes thereafter you just have to wonder," said Cope.
Cope said God works in mysterious ways and he filled a void to his wife and mother-in-law.
"I'm honored to say, that there's not a day that goes by that I don't thank God for putting me in that gap to do whatever I can do to honor my fallen hero that I never met," said Cope.
Fred Wilcox gave the closing benediction for the program. Before he gave the closing prayer, he said he feels deeply honored he was got to come home and he doesn't take lightly the sacrifices others have made for the freedoms he has today.
"I come from a rich military family, our roots run deep in the military, lots and lots of my family served. I've lost, and some got to come home and that's just the price that we pay as American soldiers, but I love the families and I appreciate them and I remember your sacrifice every day," said Wilcox.
The program was brought to a close with the playing of Taps by Brandon Addison and he was accompanied by Jamie Moore.
