The breakfast is open to Veterans and all Active Duty Military and First Responders.
Donations are Welcome!
Wilson Warriors was formed years ago to help veterans who could not afford paying the fee to have their names placed on the walls at the Veterans Plaza.
Several of our Post 281 Honor Guard members will be in attendance. Hope to see you there!
Phil Friedli has some information to share. Some old, some new.
On October 18th our Riders were out supporting the Wilson County Veterans Ride which was formerly known as the Bernie Ash Memorial Ride.
Yesterday, November 1st we were supporting riders and members of Post 75 Portland, TN. In observance of the passing of Aubrey “Ollie” Olive, a founding member of the riders chapter with the post. “Ollie” was a member of the legion for many years and he will be missed by many who knew him. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
Upcoming events:
November 11th we will participate in the Lebanon Veterans Parade. Approximately 30 units will begin assembling at the First United Methodist, 415 West Main Street at 9:30 a.m. for the parade which will begin at 10:00 a.m., featuring color guards, high school bands, scouts, public service and military vehicles, motor cycles, horses, JROTC units, National Guard, all Veterans organizations, vets marching and riding, trollies and many other units. Leading the parade will be 100 year old WWII vet T/Sgt Elmer Marler of Watertown just received France’s highest honor, the Legion of Merit at the Tennessee State Capitol in October. The parade will turn from S. Hatton onto West Main Street, to the square, counter clockwise to East Main Street to the Veterans Park and Museum.
The Veterans Day ceremony will begin promptly at 11:00 a.m. in compliance with the signing of the armistice ending WWI in 1918, and lasts for approximately one hour. The ceremony will consist of patriotic music, posting of the colors and wreaths to our war dead, raising of the service flags, recognizing all branches of the military and veterans. Gold Star Mothers, POW MIA. Color Guards and our American Legion Post 281 Honor Guard rifle volley preceding taps which ends the ceremony. The featured speaker this year is 1st Lt Norman F. Weber who as a child and as an American citizen, was held hostage in Hitler’s Germany and later served in the 82nd Airborne Division United States Army and the Air Force Reserve. Hot dogs and drinks will be served following the ceremony by Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1004. The event is sponsored annually by: American Legion Post 15, the City of Lebanon and Wilson County. https://lebanonwilsonchamber.com/lebanon-veterans-day/
Then on November 15th our Riders are participating for the 3rd year in the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System Veterans Day Parade an annual event held at the Alvin C. York VA Medical Center in Murfreesboro, TN, at 3400 Lebanon Rd. Pre-parade entertainment starting at 10 a.m. and the parade at 11 a.m.. The event is free and open to the public, featuring pre-parade entertainment, a ceremony, and the parade itself. Phil says they bring patients out and it’s a good time. Come on out!
Our Honor Guard will be participating at the 11 am ceremony at the Wilson County Veterans Plaza (304 E Main St, Lebanon, TN 37087) and at Noon an Honor Guard detachment will be at Mission BBQ (Opry Mills, 161 Opry Mills Dr, Nashville, TN 37214) to present the colors and our own David Hale signing the National Anthem for their ceremony.
Please come out and join us!
Memorial Day in Mt. Juliet came with thundershowers and yet the mood was not dampened at all, due to the collective warmth of our individual memories of those fallen heroes in the wars America has fought to maintain freedom in our great country. Bond Chapel held the ceremony inside where the crowd was patriotically synthesized by the singing of Jordans Shore and Chief James Hambrick. The Tyler Cates American Legion Post 281 in Mt. Juliet provided the honor guard to present the colors and fire the 21 gun salute. Our honor guard has gained great renown over the state of Tennessee and is in high demand for funerals and ceremonies involving the military.
Retired US Army Major Pat Unger gave the address. Pat is also Post Commander for Mt. Juliet American Legion Post 281. He gave the memorial address honoring those who have fallen in all our wars. Pat reminded us they are not statistics, but rather real people with real families who miss them this Memorial Day, where their chair at the table is still empty. He reminded us that Memorial Day is a day of remembrance “care for him who shall have borne the battle and his widow and his orphan ”. Quoted from President Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address, given March 4, 1865, at Washington, D.C. We were further reminded that it is a day to give thanks as we owe that to those who served and died to keep us free.
We are again indebted to Andy Bond and his staff at Bond Memorial Chapel for hosting this event now for 18 years. The crowd was treated to refreshments after the presentation ended. Seated at the podium was Andy Bond, Jim Austin, Pastor of Victory Baptist Church, Chief James Hambrick, Mt. Juliet Police Chief and Pat Unger, Commander of American Legion Post 281 of Mt. Juliet. In this photo the head of the man closest to the photographer is of 96 year old Max Anderson, a US Navy World War II veteran.
Richard Huffman
Public Information Officer
Tyler Cates American Legion Post 281
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On a chilly yet sunny day, perhaps a few more than 100 souls ventured out to a remote section (in Trousdale County, Tennessee) of the Cumberland River, 10 miles north of Lebanon, at Averitt’s Ferry, to honor 21 U. S. Army veterans of World War II, who perished in that river, seventy years ago this very day.
The sister of one of the fallen was on hand along with several dignitaries from Wilson County, who assisted retired U. S. Army Colonel Jerry Mc Farland, and author Woody McMillan (author of In the Presence of Soldiers http:// tennesseemaneuvers.wordpress.com/about/), to honor the 21 soldiers who drown attempting a cross of the river on a stormy night in early Spring of 1944. Assisted by the Boy Scouts of America, and a contingent of active U. S. Army reservists, and led by the crisp and elegantly attired Honor Guard of the American Legion Post 281, of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, all paid their respects to the memory of these brave lads who died on maneuvers that fateful night.
Young men (19 to 28 years of age) sent to war because of evil aggression overseas, from 10 different states, went into the Cumberland to make a river assault, and perished. The last victim was pulled from the Cumberland River at the Broadway area of downtown Nashville, one month later, and 81 nautical miles from where he first went into the cold and swollen river.
The National Anthem, Taps and a volley of honoring fire By American Legion, Tyler Cates Post 281, aided the somber ceremony. Honoring veterans is never out of fashion. We owe so very much to veterans of all branches of the U. S. armed forces, who offered their life in harm’s way, for the preservation of peace for America. This ceremony was a perfect example of how America can remember..!
Richard Huffman
PIO, Tyler Cates American Legion Post 281 Mt Juliet, TN
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