Vets honored at Woodland

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May 25, 2009

By Bob Belcher The Corsicana Daily Sun Mon May 25, 2009, 08:59 PM CDT

Woodland Memorial Park was the location of a second Memorial Day ceremony Monday afternoon, with about two dozen folks gathered under the gazebo near the north side of the cemetery to honor those lost while serving in America’s armed forces.

Those gathered shared prayers, music and heard words from three guest speakers — Navarro County Precinct 2 Commissioner Faith Holt, U.S. Army Specialist E-4 Darryl White, and retired 1st Sgt. Tommy Hall Jr. The Navarro County Sheriff’s Department provided the color guard and 21-gun salute for the occasion.

“You have my admiration and respect,” said Holt of the veterans present, and to all who have served. “Today is a very important day in recognizing all that our veterans did.”

White said joining the military “was one of the greatest decisions I made in my life.

“I’m glad I (joined),” he said. “It taught me to be a strong person.”

White works as a personal trainer at the Corsicana YMCA, and said he has worked with several young men and women who are planning to pursue military service.

Hall, just months away from heading off to college in 1967 saw his life change with the receipt of a letter from Uncle Sam during the height of the Viet Nam War. He served two years in Viet Nam before returning to the states, leaving the regular Army, and enlisting in the National Guard in 1973.

“Most people don’t realize just how important the National Guard is — it is the Second Army,” Hall said.

Hall’s Guard service took him from Corsicana to Arlington to Kerens, and eventually back to the Corsicana unit, when a workplace accident left him confined to a wheelchair for 10 years — an injury he fought back from and walked again. But it brought an end to his service with the Guard, and opened a new door for him years later as a counselor with the Texas Youth Commission.

Now, Hall is fighting another battle — this one with prostate cancer — still determined to win.

“I’m a fighter, and I’ll overcome it,” he said, words that were met with a round of applause.

Local entertainer Byron Haynie performed music for the event, along with Curtis Sparks and Precinct 2 councilwoman Ruby Williams. Williams led the gathering in the singing of “Amazing Grace,” followed by a request to pray for soldiers “all over the world who are still in harm’s way.”

The Woodland Memorial Park ceremony was organized by Single Believer’s Ministries.

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