Jacksonville will be recognizing the sacrifice of past and current service men and women with several Veterans Day events happening this weekend.
The Veterans Day parade will step off at 10:00 am Saturday from the corner of Dewey Drive and Main Street is South Jacksonville and continue north on Main, ending at the Korean War Memorial in Community Park where a brief service will be held.
Following the events at the park Saturday, all are welcome to attend a reception at the Amvets Post 100 at 210 E Court St. downtown where local Girl Scout Troops will be serving lunch.
On Monday the Veterans Day ceremony will be held at 11:00 am at the Korean War Memorial in Community Park, with a reception including ham and beans for those who attend following the service.
Jimmy Duncan with Amvets Post 100 said that both events will have local veterans as their key note speakers.
“Saturday’s speaker is Alice Towers who was an Army Medic many years ago. She has two sons, one who was in the Army and deployed as an infantryman. Her other son is a senior in high school and he has just joined the Army Reserves. She has spoke for this event before and will do a very nice job, short and sweet and from the heart.
Then on Monday, Laura Doss will be speaking, who herself was a Military Police Officer in the Army, and her husband was also an Army M.P., and her oldest son is currently serving in the Illinois National Guard, and he has been deployed as well.
So two strong military families who are Jacksonville residents, and they will tell us what Veterans Day means to them, and what their service means so it should be very interesting for everyone.”
Duncan said that both days are going to be great days giving our community a chance to honor our veterans, those who are currently serving and those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms.
“And oone interesting fact that, even I don’t think about all the time is that, there are currently over 80,000 American soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen still unaccounted for. Many of them were likely World War II and the Korean War and probably not among us anymore, but there are still many out there who may still be in captivity, we just don’t know. But we should think about them on these days also.”
Duncan said that the weather looks good for Saturday, however if the weather is too poor for the services on Monday, they will be held indoors at the Amvets Post on Court Street.