News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Putnam County will host Memorial Day events Monday at the historic courthouse in Cookeville to honor the sacrifices made by so many veterans.
Veterans Service Officer Mark Harris said retired Navy Seal Gary Denham will give remarks about what Memorial Day means to him. Harris said there are Gold Star Families in the community that come to the event each year to honor their fallen loved ones.
“It gives us a time to reflect that, what the cost of this, of our nation, the freedom we have, and how the free world looks toward us,” Harris said. “So it’s a day the nation sets aside to, to pause and to give thanks and recognize the cost of our freedom.”
Harris said there will be a wreath laying during the event where veteran service organizations will each have a representative lay their wreath at a memorial wall. He said the event will also have a bagpipe performance, as well as a final salute from the county’s Veterans Honor Guard.
“The Cookeville Junior ROTC, they will be presenting the colors and retiring the colors also,” Harris said.
He said Second Regiment of the Tennessee State Guard Chaplain James Winslow will be leading a prayer and County Circuit Court Clerk Jennifer Wilkerson will be singing the national anthem for the event. He said County Mayor Randy Porter and Cookeville Mayor Laurin Wheaton will be there.
The event starts at 11:00am. Harris said it will move to the Veterans Memorial Building on 90 E Spring Street if weather interferes.
