North Texas Veteran's Day celebration, Remembering our heroes

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Suzanne Lipcaman
  • 136th Airlift wing
November 14, 2008 --  Keller, Texas (Nov 12, 2008) --It was a beautiful and
sunny north Texas fall day on Sunday, Nov. 9 as 350
residents of Keller and surrounding communities joined 

Texas Air National Guard members at the Christian Life
Center on Pecan Street to honor U.S. Veterans.
Texas Air National Guard Vice Commander, Brig Gen.
Donald H. Harvel addressed the crowd that had assembled.
He spoke of sacrifice and honor. He remembered
one particular hero, Private William J. Crawford, USA,
36th Infantry Division, who was awarded the Medal of
Honor for acts of heroism during World War II. He
spoke of the surprise that a group of Air Force Academy
cadets had when they realized that their janitor was Private
Crawford, a Medal of Honor recipient and reminded
us, "Don't label people. You never know when you meet
a hero." 

Members of the 181st Airlift Squadron performed a C-
130 flyover that was a huge crowd pleaser. The aircrew
included, Maj. Michael Pullin, Pilot in Command, 1Lt
Jason Marrs, Co-pilot, Maj. Gerald Smalley, Navigator,
Staff Sgt. Kenneth Harrison, Load Master and Staff Sgt.
Kyle Austin, Flight Engineer. The brass quintet of the
531st Air Force Band of the Gulf Coast performed for
the crowd and Tech. Sgt. Shonda Winkler sang a beautiful
rendition of the National Anthem, a cappella. Colors
were posted by the 301st Honor Guard team, who also
performed a precision rifle drill for the event. 

This was the first annual North Texas Veteran's Day celebration,
co-hosted by Dr. John King, Senior Pastor of
the Christian Life Center, and Col David McMinn, Commander,
136th Airlift Wing. Following the formal ceremonies,
there were bounce houses, a car show and kick
boxing demonstrations. 136th Airlift Wing Recruiter,
Tech Sgt. Tiffany Jackson, was there with the ANG Basketball
goal that was a big hit with the children and Sgt.
Chipotle Mexican Grill Restaurant donated 500 burritos
for lunch. The scene was one of fellowship and celebration.
As he closed the days festivities, Dr. King thanked
all of the CLC members and military members who made
the day a huge success, "We look forward to seeing you all
again next year