Published: November 12, 2009 08:50 am      

Veterans Day 2009

Troops saluted in the Tri-County

Soldiers share stories at Lynn Camp

By Samantha Swindler / Managing Editor

Two guest speakers with the 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry Regiment shared stories of their service Wednesday with students and fellow servicemen during a Veterans Day program at Lynn Camp High School.

First Sgt. Mike Mills told students he enlisted with the Kentucky National Guard just 20 days after his 18th birthday. Today, after 17 years of military service, he supervises 240 soldiers based in Barbourville, Williamsburg and Somerset. 

His latest tour of duty was in Afghanistan, where he spent 366 days training Afghan infantry units. During his time there, he was also given “a sack full of money to make the community better.”

With that money — roughly $20,000 in U.S. dollars — Mills was able to oversee the construction of a new school for the local Afghan children. 

Captain Robert Andersen, who joined the Guard in February 1999, was deployed to Bagdad in 2006. He also spoke of the Army’s efforts to “spread good things” in the Middle East. He said he was put in charge of $600,000 cash that was spent on community projects in Bagdad. That money went to schools, hospitals and other needs for the rebuilding of the city.

“It was up to us to try to help them out so that they could live a life of normalcy,” he said. 

Andersen and Mills presented a slideshow of some of the work the 1-149th has done in Afghanistan and Iraq. Afterwards, more than 25 veterans in attendance were individually recognized for their service. 

“We have all been touched by the life of someone in military service,” said student Cecilla Long during an opening prayer in which she prayed for “peace and protection of our peace makers.”

Lynn Camp’s annual veterans tribute and lunch is sponsored by the high school’s junior class. 

Principal Larry Mills said the event has “become a rich tradition at Lynn Camp... this is something we take pride in to recognize the men and women of this community.”

Also during the event, Charlene Harmon sang the National Anthem, student Andrew Fore read from the poem “A Veterans Day Tribute,” Tim Grubb performed “God Bless the USA” and the Lynn Camp High School choir sang “America the Beautiful.”

Students and teachers honor veterans at Corbin Primary

By Becky Manley/ Staff Writer

Students and teachers shouted “U.S.A.” and waved flags as veterans paraded through Corbin Primary School Wednesday.

Included among the veterans was Toby Lynch, 60, of Corbin, who served two tours in Vietnam while in the Marine Corps from 1968 to 1972.

Lynch, who said he volunteered because he wanted to serve his country, was pleased with the demonstration of support.

“I’m glad to see it because during my time, as most people know, we weren’t appreciated very much,” Lynch said.

The parade followed a Veterans Day program where the veterans received a standing ovation from students and staff as they walked into the gymnasium.

“We didn’t just want to teach you what a veteran is. We want to show you,” Principal Travis Wilder said.

Wilder told students about members of his family who have served in the military and he challenged them to see beyond the concept of service to the people who have made freedom possible in the U.S.

“Every day should be Veterans Day,” Wilder said.

At Wildcat Harley

Marking Veterans Day, London’s Wildcat Harley-Davidson dealership invited veterans for lunch between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Wednesday. To mark the 91st anniversary of the end of World War I, the motorcycle company raised new flags on its brand new flag poles. At top, salesman Dennis Chriswell, left, and technician Pat Cook prepare to raise the company’s brand new American flag. It joined a fresh Kentucky flag already raised, and a POW-MIA.

At Corbin Primary

American Legion Post 88 Ladies Auxiliary members Etwoile Berry and Joyce Freeman folded a U.S. flag while Honor Guard Commander Dwight Davenport explained the significance of each fold. The ceremony was part of a special Veterans Day program at Corbin Primary School Wednesday.

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