Beginning this week through the next, Alabama will honor its veterans with tributes and parades. Families can watch the renowned Veterans Day parade in downtown Birmingham - the largest and oldest celebration of its kind. Visitors can climb aboard a WWII Battleship, the USS Alabama in Mobile and enjoy a free Pops concert at Battleship Memorial Park.
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Gadsden was the scene of the 38th Annual Patriots Day Hall of Honor Induction Ceremony and luncheon at the Convention Hall held on Wednesday. The crowd was the biggest ever stretching the facility to capacity. A Veterans Day parade through town followed the event.
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Inductees this year to the Patriots Hall of Honor include Bobby G. Russell, Bobby M. Junkins, John G. "Jack" Page, Robert Dewey Stansell, C.B. "Red" Collier Jr., Charles "Chuck" E. Davis, Lacy U. Weston Jr., James M. Christopher Jr., Thomas Harold Smith, Arnold D. Vinyard and Harold Thomas Bailey. A new annual honor established as the Col. Ola Lee Mize Award with Gen. "Smokin Joe" Joseph Stringham awarding the first recipient
Terry Collier, Vice Chairman of the Patriots Association.
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Featured speaker, Col Roosevelt Lewis, Jr, (USAF retired)- Second generation Tuskegee Airman who trained under Alfred " Chief Anderson" at Moton Field with Col Ola Mize (US Army retired) Korean War, Medal of Honor- U.S. Army, Company K, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Surang-ni, Korea, 10 to 11 June 1953. He entered service at: Gadsden, Ala. Born: 28 August 1931, Marshall County, Ala. G.O. No.: 70, 24 September 1954. Citation: M/Sgt. Mize, a member of Company K, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and outstanding courage above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. Company K was committed to the defense of "Outpost Harry", a strategically valuable position, when the enemy launched a heavy attack. Sgt Major Joseph Stanley, CAP, looks on in the background.
In a special appearance, Col. Roosevelt Lewis, Jr, addressed a record number of guests for Col. Herbert Carter an original Tuskegee Airman, hospitalized, unable to attend.
"Today, in Gadsden, Alabama, you are doing something that we should be doing all over this nation. You are keeping the American Spirit alive, you are keeping the American Spirit in your hearts and minds but it's important for you to be the great example so that our youngsters get it too. There's nothing wrong with making sure that each and every youngster in this community and in every community in the Nation understands what's gone on here," said Col. Lewis. "Thank you to the Tuskegee Airmen, but thank you to the greatest generation," he said. -B Meyer,
FMI: AL Veterans Day Events
-AlabamaAviator image-
Gadsden was the scene of the 38th Annual Patriots Day Hall of Honor Induction Ceremony and luncheon at the Convention Hall held on Wednesday. The crowd was the biggest ever stretching the facility to capacity. A Veterans Day parade through town followed the event.
-AlabamaAviator image-
Inductees this year to the Patriots Hall of Honor include Bobby G. Russell, Bobby M. Junkins, John G. "Jack" Page, Robert Dewey Stansell, C.B. "Red" Collier Jr., Charles "Chuck" E. Davis, Lacy U. Weston Jr., James M. Christopher Jr., Thomas Harold Smith, Arnold D. Vinyard and Harold Thomas Bailey. A new annual honor established as the Col. Ola Lee Mize Award with Gen. "Smokin Joe" Joseph Stringham awarding the first recipient
Terry Collier, Vice Chairman of the Patriots Association.
Featured speaker, Col Roosevelt Lewis, Jr, (USAF retired)- Second generation Tuskegee Airman who trained under Alfred " Chief Anderson" at Moton Field with Col Ola Mize (US Army retired) Korean War, Medal of Honor- U.S. Army, Company K, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Surang-ni, Korea, 10 to 11 June 1953. He entered service at: Gadsden, Ala. Born: 28 August 1931, Marshall County, Ala. G.O. No.: 70, 24 September 1954. Citation: M/Sgt. Mize, a member of Company K, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and outstanding courage above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. Company K was committed to the defense of "Outpost Harry", a strategically valuable position, when the enemy launched a heavy attack. Sgt Major Joseph Stanley, CAP, looks on in the background.
In a special appearance, Col. Roosevelt Lewis, Jr, addressed a record number of guests for Col. Herbert Carter an original Tuskegee Airman, hospitalized, unable to attend.
"Today, in Gadsden, Alabama, you are doing something that we should be doing all over this nation. You are keeping the American Spirit alive, you are keeping the American Spirit in your hearts and minds but it's important for you to be the great example so that our youngsters get it too. There's nothing wrong with making sure that each and every youngster in this community and in every community in the Nation understands what's gone on here," said Col. Lewis. "Thank you to the Tuskegee Airmen, but thank you to the greatest generation," he said. -B Meyer,
FMI: AL Veterans Day Events