Thank you to everyone who joined the Hall of Heroes for Talladega's 2024 Memorial Day tribute!
The people of Talladega came out Monday morning, May 27, to the historic Ritz Theater, the monument on the square and to the Hall of Heroes to pay tribute to all of those who had given their lives over the years in the service of their country.
Some of those who had made it home were also present May 27, including retired Staff Sgt. Richard Thomas, 83, who served three tours of duty in Vietnam and attended the event in his dress uniform.
Although not in uniform, there was also at least one World War II veteran, Robert Luker, whose presence drew a standing ovation during the presentation at the Ritz.
Following an invocation and singing of the Star Spangled Banner by Jenna Smith, master of ceremonies Chuck Keith showed a short video of American veterans across the decades.
Keith also pointed out an empty chair in front of the POW/MIA flag, indicating “those who are still unaccounted for, from each branch of service. They are unaccounted for in defense of our freedoms. They are with us in spirit, while their friends, loved ones and families bear witness.”
This year’s keynote speaker was Major General Lee M. Ellis, who currently serves as special assistant to the director, Army National Guard for Contingency Response Force Matters in Arlington.
He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1987 from the Alabama Military Academy Officer Candidate School at Fort McClellan, and over the course of a long and distinguished career, has served as commander of the 1003rd Combat Sustainment Support Battallion in Taji, Iraq, from 2007 to 2008. He was promoted to brigadier general in 2016 and major general in 2019. In between, he has served in Huntsville, Seoul, Romania, Anniston and Tuscaloosa.
Ellis said he was “impressed with the rich history of appreciation for service” that could be found in towns like Talladega. “I see that sense of support here, and I am more than a bit moved,” he said. “This is a special place. I wish there were more places like it.”
He was particularly impressed with the level of detail shown in the exhibits at the Hall of Heroes.
Ellis then went into a brief history of each of the conflicts that would be cited later in the day, beginning with World War I.
“President Wilson was concerned that the allies would either stagnate or be defeated. As he said, he wanted to make the world safe for democracy, so for the first time, the United States joined a coalition and fought a war not of its own making, not even on its own soil.” In the spring of 1917, American forces helped turn the tide, helping to end the war in the winter of 1918. Some 4 million Americans went to Europe during World War I; more than 116,000 of them never came home.
And so it went, through the 20th century and down to the present day. Some 400,000 Americans never came home from World War II, and another 36,000 gave their lives fighting a war of attrition in Korea, in what is often termed “the forgotten war.”
The U.S. lost 53,000 in Vietnam, and service members in the 21st century continued to demonstrate duty, honor, integrity and selfless service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Roughly 7,000 of them fell.
Going forward, he cited a quote from the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C., saying “"They [who] seek to establish systems of government based on the regimentation of all human beings by a handful of individual rulers...call this a new order. It is not new and it is not order."
After Ellis’s remarks, the traditional roll call was held of the 260 Talladega County residents who had died in battle since 1917. After that, Keith, Ellis and an honor guard of Talladega County sheriff’s deputies, American Legion members and current veterans laid a wreath at the memorial on the square.
The day’s observance closed with an open house at the Hall of Heroes.