Photos: NAACP Veterans Day Commemorative Service
The Rev. Glenn Orr, former NAACP branch president (from left); Tracy Newton, featured speaker; and Alvin Humes, current NAACP branch president. Courtesy of Larry Middleton.
The Montgomery County-Radford City-Floyd County branch of the NAACP held its Veterans Day Commemorative Service on Nov. 11 at the Blacksburg Presbyterian Church. About a dozen veterans attended, as well as one person on active duty. The Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets posted the colors.
The President of the Youth Council, Andrew Palmer, read the poem “Heroes Die for Me,” by Jamie Burns, spoken as though by the United States flag.
The featured speaker was Tracy Newton, a U. S. Army veteran and recipient of the Army Achievement Medal, who is now the office manager for Multicultural Programs and Services at Virginia Tech and an advocate for the recognition of veterans at Tech. Newton referred to a disability she suffered, but emphasized how this was something she could use as an opportunity for empathizing with others and reaching out to serve others.
After the featured speech, another member of the Youth Council, Alyssia Sims, sang “America the Beautiful.”
At the reception after the service, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sisters had holiday cards available, and those who attended the service filled them out with good wishes and messages of support. AKA then sent them to active duty military personnel.
As in past years, contributions collected at the service were used to buy toiletries and other supplies for veterans. The supplies were purchased at Walmart, which added to the contributions. Branch member veterans Michael Thom and John Nowlin presented the supplies on Monday, Dec. 17, to the Salem VA Hospital for distribution to needy veterans there.
The next NAACP event will be its annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Memorial Celebration. The event will be held Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013, at 3 p.m. at Schaeffer Memorial Baptist Church, 580 High St. in Christiansburg. All are welcome. For more information, call 382-6751.
– Submitted by Jim Klagge, NAACP
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