National Vietnam War Veterans Day Friday

This Friday, all Vietnam veterans and their families are invited to a program and lunch. The event will be held at 11:30am at the Chattooga County Memorial Home at 818 Memorial Drive Summerville, GA.

The program beginning at 11:30am will honor all Vietnam veterans with fifteen receiving Honor Awards from the State of Georgia and the U.S. Department of Defense.  The recipients are: John Adams, Army;  Terry Adams, Navy;  Michael E. Allison, Navy;  Jerry Crabtree, Army;  William Cecil Hubbard, Army;  Ralph Walter Kent, Marine Corps;  Dennis F. McCary, Navy;  Ben Sanders, Army;  Donald Wilson Smith, Navy;  Jerrold Smith, Navy;  Richard Allen Sutterfield, Army;  Conrad Trautner, Navy;  Billy Vann Trotter, Air Force;  Charles Scoggins, Army; and Aubrey Dale Housch, Army.  Awards will be presented by Major General Thomas Carden, Georgia Adjutant General, and Patricia Ross, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Veterans Service.

Major General Carden and Colonel Patricia Ross will be honored for their military service with a Quilt of Valor. The quilts will be presented by Brenda Park and our local QOV volunteers.

Lunch will be served after the program. There will be ample time for veterans to visit with each other and make photos with Carden and Ross.

Colonel Ross is a 25 year veteran of the U.S. Air Force and retired in 2014. She served in leadership positions at bases across the United States, Germany, and Italy.  Her career culminated with serving as Vice Commander of the 78th Air Force Wing at Robbins Air Force Base in Georgia. In 2021, she was selected to lead the Georgia Department of Veterans Service.

Major General Carden began his military career in 1986 when he enlisted in the Georgia Army National Guard as an infantryman.  He has held key positions while serving in the National Guard and during active duty deployments. He was most recently the Deputy Commanding General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Multi-National Division Southeast in Bucharest, Romania.  He deployed to Iraq as Operations Officer of the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team during Operation Iraqi Freedom and, he served as Operations Officer for the 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry deploying to Bosnia during Operation Joint Forge.  In January of 2019, Governor Kemp appointed Major General Carden as the 43rd Adjutant General of the Georgia Department of Defense. His responsibilities are directing, coordinating, organizing and stationing the Army and Air National Guards of the State of Georgia, the Georgia State Defense Force, and federal and state civilians, ensuring their readiness to perform state and national missions.

General Carden’s expertise and leadership abilities are well known in military circles.  In January, United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced that the President had nominated Major General Thomas Carden for the rank of Lieutenant General and assignment as Deputy Commander of the United States Northern Command and Vice Commander of the United States Element, North American Aerospace Defense Command at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado. His appointment and rank have been approved by the U.S. Senate. Both the Northern Command and Defense Command share a common goal of defending the United States and North America.

General Carden will assume his new duties in May. Governor Kemp has announced that he is appointing Major General Richard “Dwayne” Wilson as the 44th Adjutant General of Georgia. General Wilson has visited Chattooga County for several patriotic events, but will not be attending this time due to a mission to Bosnia in support of our troops.