Memorial Day ceremony honors 181 Anderson County residents who died in conflicts

 

CLINTON—More than 100 Anderson County residents have died in conflicts from the Revolutionary War more than 200 years ago to the ongoing war on terrorism and battles in Afghanistan, a county official said during a Memorial Day ceremony on Monday.

Those 181 heroes are remembered and their names inscribed on the Veterans Memorial at the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton, Veteran Services Director Leon Jaquet said.

“We gather here today in remembrance of our nation’s heroes, especially our county’s heroes who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in support of this nation’s agenda throughout the world,” Jaquet said. “Our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters who served this country to protect our freedoms and wrote that final check with their lives in support of freedom and democracy.”

Jaquet recognized guests at Monday’s ceremony, including Glen and Amy Morris, parents of Staff Sgt. Daniel Morris, who was killed in Iraq in 2006, and Gerald and Kathy Hovater, parents of Cpl. Jason Hovater, who died in Afghanistan in 2008.

“We remember the 1.3 million Americans who have made the supreme sacrifice during this nation’s wars, from the Revolutionary War to the continued War on Terrorism and Afghanistan,” Jaquet said.

 

Tennessee Rep. John Ragan, an Oak Ridge Republican, and Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank  were both featured speakers at Monday’s ceremony.

“We remember today the devotion and sacrifice of America’s brave soldiers, sailors, and airmen,” said Ragan, who retired from the U.S. Air Force, where he served as a fighter pilot during the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars. “These courageous patriots have signed their names, in their own spilt blood, on heaven’s rolls of honor—and they have writ large their legacy across the pages of history.”

“There are times in this world when we must take up arms—not only today, yesterday, or 50 years ago,” Frank said. “Man’s nature throughout the ages has displayed his propensity for evil—his love of darkness.

“And today, this Memorial Day, I thank God for those who have fought on the side of angels—who have fought for freedom, and liberty, and good—who have fought for just cause.”

Jaquet said the nation should also remember the 82,299 military personnel still listed as prisoners of war and missing in action.

“We will never forget, and we continue to demand full accounting of all our servicemen and women until they are all brought home,” he said.

“We cannot add or detract from the sacred luster of the sacrifices we recognize today,” Ragan said. “But it is our duty to beat back the indifference and apathy that plague the modern age. We must keep bright the flame of memory. Only thus will future generations understand how dear was the price of liberty, their inheritance.”