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Holbert Wade (center), of Rock S ring,
was a participant in the Armed I'Porces
Day Parade Saturday. Wade is a member
of a very elite group. He was a Platoon
Sergeant of the original Airborne Test
Platoon at Fort Benning, Georgia. In
other words, this test platoon became the
Chattooga Pauses To Pay
Tribute To Her Veterans
By KAY ABBOTT
Staff Writer
The machinery was design
ed for war, but it was operated
in celebration of peace Satur
day as Chattoogans gathered
to thank veterans and military
glersonnel for Yreserving their
eedom. The ar%st militar
garadq ever assembled in nortK
eorgia, a memorial service,
military displays and a
veteran's barbecue marked the
event,
“Guide us that our country
may have everlasting peace,”’
asked VFW Post 6688
Chaplain Howard Hawkins in
his opening prayer at the WW
I doughboy statue in Trion.
The 50 who attended the
memorial service were hushed
in the cool morning air. The
words were sometimes carried
away on the low throbbing
sounds of the Riegel factory,
but the reverent message was
clear as veterans were
remembered.
“We are here to honor all
the men who went to war: our
heroes and soldiers of yester
day and today,” stated Jim
Leath, Chaplain of the
American Legion Unit 129.
Mill hands emerged from
the doorways of Rie%el, wat
ching solemnly as VFW and
American Legion officers Flac
ed wreaths at the base of the
dou’fil:boy and saluted.
e openi:g ceremony of
the day seemed especially ap
propriate for the little mill
town whose heyday is so much
associated with first and se
cond world wars.
In 1945, Trion servicemen
had come back from *‘the war
to end all wars,” to live in the
neat row houses and work in
the textile factory. Through
later conflicts, as brothers and
sons were sent to Korea and
Vietnam, the dream of world
peace had changed.
“You have to have war to
have peace,” Chaplain Leath
statetfe “You have to have
policemen to have peace in this
country and in this world.”
There was (}uiet as w)artml
list of WW I and WW I
casualties was read.
“We are here to honor the
memory of the soldiers,” he
contiued. )
“Wearea peacekeepmf; na
tion, and we are presently at
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Kids Enthused With Weapons Display
This weapon and equipment display was
one of the focal points for visitors and
veterans alike during Armed Forces Day
activities at the Memorial Home. The
Pioneer ‘Birdman’
first men in history to jump out of an
airplane. Wade was the 7t{l man out of the
plane on that historic day in 1940. He is
pictured, talking shop, with members of
the 82nd Airborne Division and the Ist
Tennessee Parachute Refl'ment before the
parade. Photo by Earl McConnell.
peace. We can never repay the
debt we owe these men.’
As the sun burned through
the ear{:y morning haze, tfie
Armed Forces Da¥ celebration
moved from the solemn remem
brances of yesterday into an
active demonstration of
military ability. Following the
memorial service in Trion, the
celebration resumed at the
Chattooga County Memorial
Home, where a spectacular
parachute J'ump and a medevac
display drew hundreds of
residents.
Residents s%umted into the
blazizg mid-day sun and
cheered as Robert A. Skinner
of the Ist Tennessee Parachute
Regiment unfurled the
American flag as his chute
opened over Pennville. Follow
igxghthe jump, a Huey Medevac
ilitary helicopter made its en
trance, flying low over the
crowds before landing on the
Memorial Home lawn. As soon
as the huge rotors stopped tur
ning, the craft was engulfed in
a wave of curious sifiectators.
At the site, still another
generation was added to the
play of events as the young
chi{dren of local Vietnam
veterans climbed into the
helicopter to explore the
machimlz\? that ‘“‘daddy’’ used.
Melvin Mickley, who saw duty
in Vietnam in 1970, watched
with a big smile as his son,
Kevin, 11, took over the pilot’s
seat. The Medevac was one of
manf{ in use durinfi the Asian
conflict. Mickley helped load
many wounded soldiers onto
identical Hueys during his tour
of duty.
As another twist, Mickley
recognized the pilot, Clay
Holloway, who was stationed
in the same location in Viet
nam. The two met later in the
day to look over Mickley's
photo album and share
memories of Vietnam.
Representatives of the
various military units were
thoughtful in the wake of the
memorial services and moved
by the great patriotic en
tg’usiasm shown by residents
SaturdaK.
As they contemplated the
necessary actions of past wars,
young soldiers talked of the
peacekeepigf actions
necessarg' today and the new
spirit of patriotism in the
L?nited States.
Sgt. Rodney Norris, 21, of
the Ist Tennessee Parachute
display was provided b{ the Airborne
Rangers Mountain School Training Cadre
from Dahlonega. Photo by Earl
McConnell.
Refl'ment was a roommate
with the youn§l soldier, Sgt.
Ken Ford, 21, who was killed in
the recent terrorist bombing of
a Berlin disco. He spoke of the
chain of events that led to the
U. S. retaliation in Tripoli.
“I felt like it was time for
something to be done,” he
stated. ““So much terrorism
had taken place. Something
had to be done. That alone (the
Berlin incident) didn’t cause
the bombing in Tripoli, but it
was the final trigger.”
“There is more patriotism
now. It's a shame something
like that would be needed to
bri% the country together.”
hile on duty in West
Berlin, Norris was able to cross
the border into the eastern sec
tor of the city.
“I've been where com
munism was,”" he stated. “I've
seen it is not a good life. Peo
gle stand in great long lines to
uy a few vegetables.”
Along with Sgt. Ford,
whom Norris called, “‘a great
guy,” was another ac%uaim
tance injured in the Berlin
disco, Staff Sgt. Gowens.
““He had just gotten into
Berlin,”” Norris recalls. ‘‘Both
his legs were blown off in the
bombing."
“What our veterans have
done for us must not be forgot
ten,” stated Lt. Col. B.J.
Brown, as he sat stl‘l,(liging the
crowd of veterans, civilians and
military personnel gathered on
the Memorial Home lawn.
As Commander of the Ist
Tennessee Parachute Regi
ment, Lt. Col. Brown is part of
a special team of civilian
military advisors sent around
the world.
Brown leads paratrooper
training for any government
which is friendly to the United
States and does not have the
ability to train its own
garatroopers. In places like El
alvador and the Golan
Heights, Brown has been
acutely aware of the tension
between U.S. geacekeepers
and Communist forces.
“I've seen their banners
with the hammer and sickle;
I've read their Communist
slogans that show what they
think of us,” he said.
“When you're on the Golan
Heights in Israel, and ly(')ur
deagly enemy, a Syrian soldier,
is standing just 300 yards from
you, you are highly aware that
you are in a country that is still
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COMMANDER
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VFW Post 6688 Parade Entry
Chattooga Coun(t_jy Veterans of Foreign
Wars Post 6688 Commander Ray Hall is
shown driving the VFW Unit in the Arm
ed Forces Day Parade in Summerville
Saturday. Back-seat drivers are Jesse
“Sarge’’ McCullough (nearest camera)
at war and has been since 1948.
“An elderly Jewish man
stopped me on the street one
day, he patted me on the
shoulder and said, “Without
you they will kill us all.”
To Brown, the celebration
was like a gigantic echo of the
old man’s sentiments.
“I think we as a nation were
%lad when we took on Libya,”
rown stated, ‘‘but the change
in American patriotism took
place in 1980. It started with
the hostage crisis, and when
Charlie Daniels did songs like
“*Still in Saigon.” It was a big
turning point when people
became proud to s?iy they were
Americans, proud to serve
their country. I think the
American peol;l)lle definitely ex
pected something. It was like
swatting a fly.” :
“As a group we want to tell
the county what a nice group
of people they are, how kind
they have treated us. When
you have another parade like
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Duff Matson Welcomed
Summerville Mayor Sewell Cash (right) presents Arm
ed Forces Day Parade Grand Marshal Duff Matson the
key to the city at a dinner held Priday night at the Chat
tooga County Memorial Home. The dinner was held in
honor of Chattooga County's Ex-Prisoners of War,
Photo by Earl Mc%onnell.
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Master Of Ceremonies
Charles Farrar (right) of Radio Station WGTA was
Master of Ceremonies for the Armed Forces Da{| Parade
Saturday. Pictured on the reviewinistand with Farrar
are: American Legion Post 129 Chaplain Jim Leath
(left), and David Hartline, Armed Forces Day Activities
Chairman. Photo by Earl McConnell.
and ‘‘Pop’’ Hawkins. The VFW, alon
with American Legion Post 129 ang
Disabled American Veterans Chapter 49
co-sponsored the Armed Forces activities
hel(i) last weekend. Photo by Earl
McConnell.
this please invite us back,” said
Brown.
At 1 p.m. the county’s at
tention shifted to downtown
Summerville, where the big-
E?st military Earade in the
stzlg' of nort Geolr\fla was
staged. The Huey Medevac
created a strong backwash as
it flew just over the power lines
of Commerce Street, signaling
the start of the parade.
Seated in a place of honor
on the reviewing stand were
Gold Star Mothers, families of
Ex-POWs and widows of
soldiers killed in action. Each
group was recognized during
the event and applauded by the
crowd.
Also on the platform were
Col. Jack Downey of the U. S.
Forces Command Head
m&%i‘m McPherson;
‘Duff Matson, the only surviv
ing member of the “Dirty
Dozen;"” Don Lassen, Airborne
Static Line Publisher; other
military personnel and local
officials.
The crowd crossed the
street and encircled the review
in% stand as the final vehicle
flu led to a stop. Seated on the
atbed truck were former
Prisoners of War from WW I 1
and Vietnam. Each man’s
name was called as he stood in
the place of honor. In the 1985
parade, Vietnam veterans were
recognized as they symbolical
ly “came home' to their first
heroes’ welcome, their first
public acknowledgement.
One gray-haired ex-POW, a
veteran once imprisoned in a
German stalag, stood and wav
ed a small American flag as his
name was called. Officers on
the reviewing stand saluted
and applauded.
Author David Hartline
summed up the feeling of the
parade he helped to orfianize
along with The DAV C aq‘ter
49, 6FW Post 6688 and The
American Legion Unit 129.
Standing on the sEeaker’s glat
form, he told the crowd in
downtown Summerville, “You
all came out to make the ex-
POWSs feel at home.”
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Ist Tennessee Parachute Regiment
The Ist Tennessee Parachute Regiment
from Nashville was an integral %art of
Chattooga County's Armed Forces
weekend. Pictured, left to right, are
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SUMMERVILLE, G 4 ’
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David Love, Commander of Chattooga
County Disabled American Veterans
Chapter 49, passes the reviewing stand
The Summerville News, May 22, 1986 .
MEMORIES
Armed Forces Day
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So Proudly She Waves . . .
“Old Glory" stands tall and proud as the Marine Corps
Color Guard from Rome apgroaches the reviewing stand
at the Chattooga Countg ourthouse during the Arm
idblF)‘orces Day parade Saturday. Staff photo by Kay
ott.
Rodney Norris, Dannar Gilbert,
tal Commander; Lt. Colonel B. J.
Bill McWhirter and Steve Dixon. Staff
photo by Kay Abbott.
DAV Commander
Photo by Earl tho nel '
1986
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