Veteran’s Day events in Bainbridge honor veterans both young and old
Published 5:51 pm Friday, November 13, 2015
Post Commander John A. Marshall, left, and Commander Hill Yates salute the U.S. flag as Taps is played Wednesday morning at Willis Park. | Powell Cobb, Post-Searchlight
Kathiryn Lillethun told a crowd gathered at Willis Park on Veteran’s Day morning that she believed veterans held an ideal all Americans should strive for.
“We actually learn by regulation how we are supposed to behave,” the former Air Force Lt. Col. said. “One of the things we learned while in training is we will get the job done, and we will work with whoever we have to. We don’t have to like each other, but we will respect each other.”
These were tenets all Americans needed to live by, Lillethun pointed out.
Lillethun closed her speech with a description of a painting hanging in the Pentagon, of a solider kneeling before an alter. Underneath the painting was the Bible verse Isaiah 6:8, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here I am. Send me.’”
Oliver Sellers read a list of Decatur County veterans who have passed away since the last Veteran’s Day on Nov. 12, 2014.
Richard Michael Atkinson, Phillip K. Barber, Greg Batchelor, Nelson Brock, James Franklin Brown, William Donald “Bill” Bryant, T.P. Bryant, Nathan Burke, Hershell Morris Chapman, Jr., John Earl Chud, Lowell Coppinger, George Edward Daniel, William Robert “Billy Bob” Drinkwater, Melvin Wayne Floyd, Elsom Wade Glover, Samuel Marvin “Sam” Griffin, Jr., John U. Grimsley, Jr., B. Marvin Harrell, Foy Edward “Bud” Higginbottom, Marion C. “Mike” Hollaway, Nathan Vance Holt, Emmett E. Inlow, Jr., Raymond, S. Inlow, Ralph M. “Jake” Ivey, Dr. Oscar D. Jackson, Jr., James Marvin Jones, Leonard E. King, William David “Bill” King, James Edward Law, Elwood Logue, Jr., Harry D. Martin, Dr. Edward D. Mobley, George G. Mobley, Jay Musgrove, Joe Musgrove, Kenneth Warren Nelson, Donald Gerald “Donnie” Oates, Thomas Hubert Parker, Sr., Marvin Earl Parks, Melton Lafayette Perkins, W.H. Phillips, Jonah “Rex” Sanders, Linza Milton Scott, Don Skidmore, Will Tomlinson, Clifford Henry Webb, F. E. “Jimmy” Wells, Riley Williamson, Jr. and Dr. L.W. “Bo” Willis, Jr.
At the Veteran’s Day Luncheon at the Kirbo Center, Barbara Cliffe-Miller sang “God Bless America” to a room full of veterans and local leaders. Air Force veterans and former Bainbridge High School Junior ROTC Director Gary Breedlove spoke to the crowd about the meaning of Veterans Day and his experiences serving for his country and his community.
