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Local Vietnam Veterans were celebrated during a ceremony at South Jackson Performing Arts Center on March 29.

The program is put on every year in honor of National Vietnam War Veterans Day by the Tullahoma chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) and the GFWC Club of Tullahoma.

Reverend Marty Nutter opened the ceremony with a prayer thanking God for the brave men and women who served during the Vietnam War, and praying blessing on those in attendance.

The presentation of the colors was made by the Tullahoma High School Marine Corps Junior ROTC, and the crowd watched on with hands on hearts in solemn appreciation, before performing the pledge.

American Legion Post Number 43 Commander Marcus Walden then gave a few short remarks in thanks, before Mayor Ray Knowis made a proclamation regarding the day.

Knowis thanked the NSDAR for the opportunity to speak, and told the story of how he had to drive his sister and her husband to the airport to send him off to the Vietnam War, and the solemn and quiet departure he had. Knowis said he also had the privilege of taking his sister back to the airport to pick her husband.

“I have never seen such an expression of joy,” he said, describing what he witnessed when his sister first saw her husband disembarking from the plane.

He then issued his proclamation honoring all Vietnam Veteran citizens of Tullahoma on the 50^th Anniversary of the war.

US Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Phil Short was the guest speaker. He has previously served as a Louisiana state senator following his retirement from the Marines. He also served a senior executive service for the Marine Corps as part of the Department of Defense.

Short served in Vietnam, and told several stories of his time there and the kind of sacrifice and service he witnessed in his fellow Americans. He also told of the horrors those who served had to face, and the longstanding struggle those circumstances created. He thanked all who served for making a sacrifice overseas and for making sacrifices in their lives after the war.

Photos by Anna Coburn and Emma Cook.