The theme for this year’s festivities is “Their Strength and Courage Strike the Spark: Honoring our Sergeants,” in recognition of the Army’s Year of the NCO campaign.

Soldiers will compete in various events throughout the week, which are open to the public as spectators:

• Marksmanship Competition at Ranges 10, 13, and 14, Aug. 14, 10 a.m.
• Toughest Air Assault Soldier Competition at the Sabalauski Air Assault School, Aug. 16, 8 a.m.
• Combatives at the Personnel Processing Center (briefings begin at 8 a.m.), Aug. 17-18, 9 a.m.
• Basketball at Freedom Fighters Gym, Softball at the North Sports Complex (between Kentucky and Indiana Aves. at 47th and 49th Streets), Aug. 17-19, 9 a.m.

Everyone is invited to participate in other events:

• Legacy Golf Tournament at Cole Park Golf Club*, Aug. 14, noon
• Salute to the Troops Concert at Division Parade Field, Aug. 14, 6 p.m.
• 10K Run, 5K Fun Run, 1K walk at the Campbell Rail Operations Facility on Market Garden Road*, Aug. 15, 7:30 a.m.
• Air Show and Community Fair & Kids Zone at Campbell Army Airfield, Aug. 15, 10 a.m.
• Salute to the Troops Concert at Division Parade Field, Aug. 15, 6 p.m.
• Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Ceremony at Hangar 3, Aug. 16, 4 p.m.
• Memorial Ceremony at McAuliffe Hall, Aug. 19, 5 p.m.
• Division Review and Awards Ceremony at the Division Parade Field, Aug. 20, 10 a.m.

*Requires registration and a nominal fee

The Division Run with all units represented and led by the commander is planned for 7 a.m. Aug. 13.

A formal dining out is planned at 6 p.m. Aug. 17 at the Bruce Convention Center in Hopkinsville and is open to Fort Campbell Soldiers and invited guests only.

A Week of the Eagles Welcome Center will be open and staffed for visitors outside of Gate 7, on Gate 7 Road, on the Oak Grove side of Fort Campbell Blvd. There will be various displays from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) units and organizations and Week of the Eagles program guides. The Welcome Center will be open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

Plans for all events continue and updates can be found at the Week of the Eagles Web site, http://www.fortcampbellmwr.com/woe/, and Facebook page, “Week of the Eagles 2009.”

Historically, Week of the Eagles week-long events draw 50,000 visitors, 30,000 concert goers, and 65,000 air show spectators. The bi-annual event is an opportunity for Fort Campbell Veterans, Families, and neighbors to learn about the capabilities, training and efforts of current Screaming Eagles; Soldiers benefit from the esprit de corps of the event and also the opportunity to learn from former Soldiers.

Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Ceremony

Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Ceremony is designed to be an official welcome home for Vietnam Veterans who never got the recognition and welcome home that every member of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) receives when they return from the Global War on Terrorism. Veterans will stand in formation and march into the hangar where they will be greeted by Family and friends. All Vietnam Veterans – regardless of unit or branch of service – are welcome to attend and participate in the ceremony.

To participate, Vietnam Veterans should enter Fort Campbell at Gate 7 Aug. 16 and assemble in casual patriotic attire by 2 p.m. at the Freedom Fighter. Buses at the Freedom Fighter Gymnasium will transport everyone to and from Hangar 3. The Vietnam Veterans will be greeted by the new Commanding General, Maj. Gen. John F. Campbell, families, friends and other patriots. After the Hangar 3 ceremony, buses will return everyone to the Freedom Fighter Gymnasium (air-conditioned) and a sit down free barbecue meal for the Vietnam Veteran and one guest.

Those interested in attending must contact the Hopkinsville-Christian County Chamber of Commerce at (270) 885-9096 or email by Aug. 9 to confirm how many will attend the ceremony, reserve a meal for yourself and one guest, indicate branch of service, and if there are handicap needs.

The Color guard approaches

It’s always a solemn occasion when a nation gathers to honor its soldiers, those who lived to come home, but even more importantly those who did not. There are 33 missing POW/MIA’s from the State of Tennessee. Each one was honored in a ceremony on Public Square in Clarksville this Sunday evening.

The Memorial Day Candle light vigil is held by the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 396. This is the 20th consecutive year for the ceremony. It was first held in 1989, the same year the local chapter was chartered. The initial list contained a total of 43 names, since that time 9 comrades have found their way home, the latest in 2005.

The colors were posted as an honor guard of Montgomery Central High School JROTC Students stood a silent vigil around the war memorial on public square. Then a single chair representing all of the POW/MIA’s nationwide was placed in a position of honor before the audience. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited, and a moment of silence was held. Then Rev. Elijah Oliver of delivered the invocation.

State Senator Tim Barnes was introduced and spoke a few words.

State Senator Tim Barnes addresses the crowd

Thank you, I just want to say what a honor it is to be here at this occasion. That we mark the contributions of so many, who gave so much.

I was about 8, 9 years old when my older brother went to this foreign land that I had never heard of before. It was about at that time that I and the rest of this nation were learning the names of these places. Like Đà Nẵng, Long Bien, and Palku. And it seems like forever ago that I remember that time. And I remember hearing about all those who did not come back. And that is what we are here for.

Ah! My brother did make it back, but unfortunately about two months after he got back he was killed in a car wreck.

And that was my first opportunity to see a military funeral, and I can tell you as 11 year old child and it’s something to, to watch as a child, to see that salute, to hear the bugler in the distance which I am convinced is the saddest sound on the face of the earth. And to have that, in this case an airman with white gloves on, turn and bend down to my mother and hand that flag and say, “On behalf of a grateful nation”.

And I know during that time 1970 it was July of 1970. All across the country there was so many mothers who were receiving those flags, on behalf of a grateful nation. And the only thing I have to say here is that I will never forget that, and I hope that indeed, we are a grateful nation.

Then State Representative Joe Pitts was introduced…

State Rep. Joe Pitts Addresses the crowd

Thank you Gary, and thank you to all who are here this evening, on this solemn occasion. This is one of my favorite, favorite times during our Memorial Day holiday, just primarily because we pause, and call out those names individually those, who have served but never returned. I also want to say thank you to Rev. Pastor Johnny Conway and Robert Warren his wingman, and brother Elijah oliver and others who continues to serve with the Veterans Temporary Assistance program. Your service gentlemen should not go unrecognized.

I won’t sit here and try to recite a bunch of dates because we all know the genesis, and the beginning of Memorial Day. I just want to tell a couple of stories if I could. I had a speech prepared but I am just gonna put that aside.

I remember much like Sen Barnes being an 11 year old child in December of 1969 when the mother of one of my classmates in sixth grade, came to the classroom and took out my classmate, his name was Mark. And she took him out and uh told him his father had been killed in Vietnam. And I remember that crystallized the war for me. Because I remember that Mark was gone for a couple of weeks, and when he came back, he was never the same.

Something that I want to recall those who served, and those who were wounded. My father’s in the audience tonight he’s a Korean war purple heart veteran and when he speaks of that experience which is not very often. He speaks with great reverence, but also with great reservation, because as he says “the purple heart club is a club you don’t want to be asked to join”.

We are pausing tonight to recognize those who are missing, those who are unaccounted for, those who served and did not return.

It was my honor to speak on Friday at the opening ceremonies in Oak Grove for the traveling wall, the Vietnam memorial wall thats so beautifully displayed in that park setting, in Oak Grove. And there are more than 58,000 names on that wall. But among the 58,000 names there are over 1,200 which represent those who didn’t return, or are unaccounted for. We are stopping tonight to recognize and pay tribute to them. So to those families who still have question marks in their lives, we just want to say thank you for your service. We also want to say thank you to these men and women who are going to be bringing the chairs as we call the names forward tonight. And I think that is the most telling part of this particular ceremony is when they come with great reverence and awe and respect for their fallen and missing comrade, that we stop and pause.

So this weekend, at this moment, and at this time, and in this place lets never forget those who didn’t come home, and those who went, but didn’t come home alive. God Bless you and God bless America!

Members of the Vietnam Veterans Motorcycle Club, Legacy Veterans Motorcycle Club, and the 2nd Brigade Motorcycle Club prepare to do their duty to their comrades

During the ceremony, The thirty three names were slowly read aloud, the bell pealed, as someone in the background intoned “Absent, but not forgotten.” The flame was lit. The empty chair, draped with a POW/MIA shirt and a placard, identifying the missing solider that it represented, was carried forward by a fellow veteran, who once it was in place stepped up before it, and rendered a silent salute.

A chair is put into place as the crowd and color guard looks on

One final note. Ward 5 City Council Member Candy Johnson was the only City Representative to show up, the rest were not in attendance.  She is to be highly commended.

Photo Gallery

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The POW/MIA’s

Below are the names of the missing Tennesseans. We offer our fervent hope that they too all find their way home once more.

Major Howard V. Andre Jr.
USAF
Memphis, TN
July 8^th 1969

1^st Lieutenant John R. Baldridge Jr.
USAF
Memphis, TN
November 20^th 1969

Lance Corporal James A. Benton
USMC
Daisy, TN
April 27^th 1967

Specialist 4^th Class Dwight A. Bremmer
U.S. Army
Oakland, TN
December 14^th 1971

Specialist 4^th Class James A. Brown
U.S. Army
Humbolt, TN
August 12, 1970

Lieutenant Colonel Donald F. Casey
USAF
Chattanooga, TN
June 23^rd 1968

Sergeant Echol W. Coalston Jr.
U.S. Army
Memphis, TN
January 21^st 1968

Corporal James B. Conway
U.S. Army
Franklin, TN
April 13^th 1966

1^st Lieutenant Larry W. Cotton
USAF
Nashville, TN
March 9^th 1970

Lieutenant Commander Carroll O. Crain Jr.
U.S. Navy
Memphis, TN
March 8^th 1967

Lance Corporal Richard H. Dallas
USMC
Memphis, TN
April 27^th 1967

Private First Class Joe L. Delong
U.S. Army
McMinnville, TN
May 18^th 1967

Specialist 4^th Class Billy J. Ellis
U.S. Army
Elizabethton, TN
January 3^rd 1968

Sergeant Donald P. Gervais
U.S. Army
Clarksville, TN
May 1^st 1968

1^st Lieutenant Gary A. Glandon
USAF
Powell, TN
May 26^th 1966

Seaman Apprentice Thomas A. Goetsch
U.S. Navy
Memphis, TN
September 17, 1972

Captain Lucius L. Heiskell
USAF
Memphis, TN
February 6^th 1967

Specialist 4^th Class Jerry A. Hiemer
U.S. Army
Memphis, TN
November 11^th 1965

Private First Class James D. Hunter
U.S. Army
Portland, TN
October 29^th 1968

Major Dale A. Johnson
USAF
Elizabethton, TN
November 27^th 1966

1^st Lieutenant Richard C. Lannom
USMC
Union City, TN
March 1^st 1968

Captain William T. McPhail
U.S. Navy
Chattanooga, TN
May 22^nd 1968

Petty Officer 1^st Class James C. Newman Jr.
U.S. Navy
Knoxville, TN
February 6^th 1968

Sergeant Calvin A. Norris
U.S. Army
Monterey, TN
November 3^rd 1970

Specialist 4^th Class Marvin E. Phillips
U.S. Army
Gruetli-Langer
September 26^th 1966

Chief Warrant Officer Kenneth L. Stancil
U.S. Army
Chattanooga, TN
December 28^th 1965

Major Lawerence B. Tatum
U.S. Army
Chattanooga, TN
September 10^th 1966

Lieutenant Colonel James A. Treece
USAF
Memphis, TN
October 7^th 1966

Major Woodrow W. Vaden
USAF
Clarksville, TN
December 10^th 1964

1^st Lieutenant John T. Welshan
USAF
Oak Ridge, TN
March 3^rd 1968

Colonel David R. Williams
USAF
Memphis, TN
April 1^st 1967

Captain William C. Woods Jr.
USAF
Paris, TN
September 2^nd 1972

Staff Sergeant Lawerence Woods
USAF
Clarksville, TN
October 24^th 1964

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), approximately 20 million gallons of herbicides were used in Vietnam between 1962 and 1971 to remove unwanted plant life and leaves which otherwise provided cover for enemy forces. Exposure to Agent Orange has caused 11 different diseases to develop among veterans who served in Vietnam.

It has also been concluded that exposure to Agent Orange could also affect the offspring of these veterans. Please contact the nearest VA medical center for an examination. Visit http://www2.va.gov/directory/guide/home.asp?isFlash=1 to find a center near you.

One by one, as a bell tolled a single chime and the words “Absent, not forgotten” were spoken by people in the viewing stands, Vietnam veterans carried thirty-three empty chairs draped in the black and white POW-MIA logo, carrying the names of Tennessee soldiers still missing from the Vietnam War, to “center stage” and saluted.

To the side, another veteran lit a candle for each name called. Gery Ezell read the roster of the missing. Reverend Elijah Oliver gave the benediction for this vigil.

Dozens of Vietnam veterans and their families gathered in Public Square Sunday evening to honor their fallen comrades, Tennessee’s 33 POWs and MIAs of the Vietnam War. The event was sponsored by Chapter 396 of the Vietnam Veteran’s of America, who launched this annual service in 1989 when the fate of forty-three Tennessee soldier serving in Vietnam did not return. In the intervening years, 10 soldiers have been returned, the most recent in 2005.

State Representative Joe Pitts was the speaker for the event, noting not only those who have fought in past wars but those who currently serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. “They should be honored,” he said. Senator Rosalind Kurita and James Patterson of the State Veteran’s Service were also present for this solemn ceremony. Neither the mayor nor any city councilors attended.

The Wester family opened the service with three songs: our National Anthem, God Bless America and America the Beautiful.The Montgomery County JROTC posted the colors and a single chair was placed close to the speakers, symbolizing those who could not be there.

Members of the Vietnam Veterans Motorcycle Club, the Legacy Veterans Motorcycle Club, and the 2nd Brigade Motorcycle Club, turned out in large numbers for the vigil, lining the bikes in precise rows not unlike parade rank. As each of the clubs’ members carried their soldier’s chair to the front line, they paused to stand at attention and salute. For so many of us who have lost loved ones to Vietnam or other conflicts, it was a poignant moment.

The bikers, dressed in jeans, many wearing sunglasses and sporting beards, wearing vests emblazed with their club logos, were also symbolic of an era of protest, of soldiers honoring their pledge to fight for the United States even as protests over the war erupted stateside. They stood together, unified, in solidarity with the fallen friends.

The ceremony has been expanded to honor every American who has served their country in the military, said Maryanna Christy. Christy and several audience members noted that at the time the flag was raised to begin this event, the city hall doors began opening and closing, and didn’t stop until the ceremony ended.

Though inspirational and moving, there was one “sore spot” noted by virtually all who attended. Once again, the city’s Pillar of Fire/Pillar of Clouds, designed as a perpetual tribute to America’s soldiers, was unlit. The veterans in attendance were “not happy” with that omission. Clarksville Online has documented the fact that this is the second Memorial Day that flame has been out. It was also out on Veteran’s Day.

“I was at the original installation [of this monument]. At that time the City of Clarksville said the flame would burn 365 days a year. The facts is, it burns occasionally. It is almost never lit when there are ceremonies honoring veterans.” — Maryanna Christy

Christy said is the unlit flame is a slap in the face of every veteran

Vietnam Veteran David Nemirow called the omission “an embarrassment. The flame should NEVER be out.”

In a second emotional and unpatriotic hit, a number of American flags at McGregor Park were in disarray, partially torn away and hanging loose in the wind. One veteran said that if the city puts up these flags, they have a “responsibility” to maintain them. “Otherwise, why bother to put them up.”

Given that Clarksville is home to Fort Campbell, which has hundreds of its troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, these omissions have hit doubly hard and triggered significant dissatisfaction among attendees, who see the unlit flame and the dangling flags as “unpatriotic” and “irreverent.”

The city’s omissions were a complete contrast to the meticulously planned and beautifully managed ceremony sponsored by the veterans themselves.

This highly visible flag at Riverside and Commerce remain partially untethered as the Memorial Day weekend unfurls.

Vigil and Flag photos by Bill Larson

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