Communities will celebrate Memorial Day this weekend with services and celebrations held across the Upper Cumberland.
The Warren County Memorial Airport will host the traditional Memorial Day ceremony this Monday at 7 a.m.
This year, the service will be spearheaded by the Vietnam Veterans of America Royce Davenport Chapter. The guest speaker will be Terry Yates, the former president of the Tennessee State Council of Vietnam Veterans of America. Yates served in the Vietnam War as a helicopter medic.
The service will include a reading of the county’s war dead by County Executive Jimmy Haley and McMinnville Mayor Ryle Chastain. The ceremony traditionally ends with the playing of “Taps.”
In Cumberland County, the Elks Lodge will offer free hot dogs for veterans at the War Memorial Park from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Crossville man Tim French will have a memorial display of the 400 veterans and first responder heroes he walks for at the Crossville Army National Guard. At the Fairfield Glade Community Center, the Young Marines will participate in a flag raising ceremony at 9 a.m. The Veterans of Foreign Wars in Crossville will host a 75th Anniversary Open House for veterans and their spouses from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
In Sparta, the American Legion will present a Memorial Day Program at the Rotary Club of Sparta Veterans Park. The program will include a bell-ringing ceremony, guest speakers, and special music. Following the program, Clean Heart Ministries will host a cookout for veterans.
In Livingston, there will be a Memorial Day program held on the Livingston square beginning at 10 a.m. in honor of the sacrifices of fallen soldiers. The service will be conducted by two American Legion groups in addition to the Overton County Veterans Coalition Honor Guard and the Livingston Academy Band, as well as members of the community.