Perry honors military veterans in ceremony and song

Houston County schools were closed Wednesday for Veterans Day, but choral voices from Lake Joy Elementary filled the air at the Arts Center in Perry.

Students, parents, residents and officials came to pay tribute to veterans in the annual Veterans Day Program sponsored by the American Legion.

The event was organized by Legion Commander Tommy Wood and was to honor a former Legion commander. This was the second time the event took place at the Arts Center, Wood said. It had taken place for many years at Rozar Park.

Special guests at the event were Donald A. Norris, 92, U.S. Army veteran of D-Day, Purple Heart recipient and past Legion commander; Carroll Underwood, 89, who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in the Pacific Theater of Operations from 1944-46; Joseph L. Bacon, 92 who served in U.S. Navy from 1944-46, in the PTO around Japan and Okinawa, “Many Marines died there,” he said; Penrose Wolf, 90, who served in European Theater of Operations as a U.S. Army infantryman from 1944-46; and Wallis Hurlbutt, 95, who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps and U.S. Air Force from 1943 to 1975.

Norris sat behind a table filled with shadow boxes containing mementos of his service, including patches, medals, decorations and some shrapnel. He said he enlisted in 1943, took basic training in Anniston, Ala., and quickly shipped out to England for Omaha Beach and the D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944. He was wounded on July 26, 1944, was sent to a hospital in England for about a month before returning to the United States in August 1944.

“I’ve never been back to Europe,” he said. “I can’t afford it. Costs too much money.”

He spent some time talking with Joe Albright, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force who retired in January 1979.

“I’m 75 now, but I’m not bored,” Albright said. “I’m not rushed in my life.”

Neither was the ceremony, which began at 11 a.m. The master of ceremonies was retired Command Master Sgt. Leland Callan, who introduced members of the Perry High School JROTC to present the colors. Joyce Campbell and Samantha Bartlett then sang “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the Rev. Roland Fall delivered the opening prayer, and Mayor James E. Faircloth welcomed the guests.

The keynote speaker, retired brigadier general Bob Messer, listed the 15 conflicts the country has gone through since the end of World War II before enumerating the six areas today where conflict is possible.

“We don’t want to repeat the blunders of the 1930s” that accelerated global conflict, Messer said, and warned of “a lack or readiness” to confront dangers presented by Iran and North Korea.

“The situation dishonors past veterans who gave their all,” he said, before ending his talk with a silent prayer for the country.

The WWII veterans were then presented caps by Rudi Huther, and they received a standing ovation from the nearly 250 people attending.

The Lake Joy Elementary School choir sang a pair of patriotic songs before closing out the ceremony with Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America.” As the song progressed, people automatically stood up and joined in the singing in a spontaneous display of patriotism.

City Council member the Rev. Willie King gave the closing prayer, asking people not to forget the “sacrifice of love” veterans have made and inviting those attending to “tip our hats to a veteran” whenever we see them.

HHJ News