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The Carroll County War
Memorial at Thomas Park was the site for Huntingdon'e
Memorial Day service.
Huntingdon
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McKENZIE SERVICE
CLICK HERE FOR VETERANS BREAKFAST & VFW WALL OF HONORGeneral J.W. Noles Pleads, "Never
Forget"
 Brigadier General J.W. Noles, formerly a resident of
Huntingdon and a 1965 graduate of Huntingdon High
School, was guest speaker at the town's Memorial Day
event held Monday evening at Thomas Park. Mayor Dale
Kelley welcomed a record number of guests on the
occasion.
Mayor Kelley teased the general that BG (brigadier
general) must stand for "big guy" and that in the eyes
of the community he was a big guy.
"We're proud of you and proud to have you here this
evening," he said.
"Thank you for inviting me back home for such a worthy
occasion," the general responded as he began his
remarks. "Thank you for choosing to honor soldiers."
He challenged the audience to remember what was lost in
America's wars and also what was gained.
What was earned for us, he counseled, is "every hour of
freedom we enjoy."
"What was taken from us were the men and women we honor
today and every hour of the lifetimes they had hoped to
live."
He advised the day will arrive when no one is left
living who recalls the face, the voice, the personality
of those lost countrymen, but that "the day must never
come when America forgets them. Our nation must always
remember what they did and what they gave for the
future of humanity."
"The cause of freedom is just," he declared. "Whether
it is the freedom of the Iraqi people or the American
people, the cause is just."
"No greater love has any man than one who would lay
down his life for his fellow man," he said, quoting
from scripture.
"Their sacrifices have spared many others from tyranny
and sorrow."
He mentioned the community's recent loss of Command
Sergeant Major Edward Carl Barnhill, who died while
serving his country in Iraq.
"He was one of us; we loved him and we will miss him,"
he said.
He declared to listeners that he had made a commitment
to himself, to share with as many others as possible
and at every opportunity that "all is not lost in this
country; that more and more people have a far more
meaningful understanding and gratitude for what the
sacrifice of the American soldier means to their
personal safety and freedom than ever before."
Conversely, some people have come to believe that
patriotism and a healthy respect for the country's
courageous military personnel "is somehow excessive and
arrogant," he said. "To them I say, where else but in
America would you want to live? Where else are you
offered such abundance of opportunity and freedom?"
The real truth, he countered, is that America's
abundance is due to those who fought the battles. "To
them," he said, "We owe our very existence."
"When you leave today," he admonished, "please realize
that every bit of the ground you walk on has been paid
for with the blood of those who made a decision that
this nation was worth fighting for."
Among veterans and active duty serve members in the
audience, Daniel Trebilcock of Clarksburg, a platoon
sergeant with the 1175th Transportation Unit in
Brownsville, concurred.
Just back from Iraq, Trebilcock stated, "I think the
(liberal) media is showing too much of the wrong side;
there's a lot of good going on. I've seen both sides of
it and I still say there's more good."
Two members of his unit didn't come home alive, with
one killed in a weapon mishap and another of a heart
attack.
Military participants in the program included the 101st
Airborne Division, 311th Military Intelligence
Battalion Honor Guard from Fort Campbell, and the
Tennessee Army National Guard Funeral Detail who
performed a 21-gun salute at the conclusion of the
program. Taps was performed by Christy Lowe and David
Deaton of McKenzie. Prayer was led by the Reverend
Jimmy Furr.
The celebrated Huntingdon High School Chorus sang
"America the Beautiful" to bring the program underway,
later singing "You Raise Me Up". Chorus member Jessica
Tucker performed "Amazing Grace" prior to the 21-gun
salute. The AWOL Men's Ensemble sang the moving chorus,
"We Say, 'Thank You'" as well as "God Bless the USA",
the latter sung as the flag was being returned to full
mast.
Earlier, Mayor Kelley and General Noles joined in
placing a patriotic wreath at the base of the Carroll
County War Memorial, after which County Mayor Kenny
McBride placed white carnations in a basket at the base
of a display symbolizing the country's war dead from
the Mexican War, Civil War, Spanish American War, World
War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War I, and
Gulf War II.
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