Veterans Day celebrated
Once again the City of Holly Springs put its best foot forward hosting the a city-wide celebration of Veterans Day, Nov. 10. Those present included the City and Holly Springs School District, which sent several bus loads of students to hear an inspiring speaker, Maj. Darrell L. Williams, US Army, retired.
With the elections over, circuit clerk Monet Autry served as Mistress of Ceremony again this year, alderman Bernita Fountain gave welcoming remarks from the city and chancery clerk Nicole Phelps said a welcome from the county to “those in uniform and those who serve everyday.”
“We don’t know them all, but we certainly owe them all…for life and to be here today,” Phelps said.
Rev. Leroy James, pastor of Hopewell No. 1 Church, said prayer thanking God for “the hard times to help the country celebrate the good times.
“The country owes You,” he said. “Thank you, Lord, for these veterans. Put your arms around them including those who are serving right now. I personally ask You to stop the war that we may live in peace.”
Stephanie Shipp, whose father served in the Army, shared a brief scripture and “thanked the Lord for those here today. May the Word go out to the hearers and doers of God’s Word.”
Verona Shipp was in the audience in place of the late veteran Albert Shipp, who served in the U.S. Army.
Dennis Jones thanked the some 150 people who worked the polls during the Nov. 7 election.
“People are always ridiculed,” he said, praising those dedicated who continue to work the polls.
Jones introduced Dr. Darrell L. Williams, who served 29 years in the
army, which included combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and who received decorations for military heroism, including the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.
Williams recognized the veterans and the high school students and quoted a poem, “Life Is Just a Minute,” by Benjamin E. Mays.
“Life Is Just a Minute”
“I’ve only just a minute, Only sixty seconds in it. Forced upon me, can’t refuse it, Didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it, But it’s up to me to use it. I must suffer if I lose it, Give an account if I abuse it, Just a tiny little minute, But eternity is in it.”
Nov. 10 was the U.S. Marine Corps 248th birthday
Williams, who grew up in Abbeville, the son of a farming family, shared some of his humble beginnings.
He picked cotton for two cents a pound and on a good day he earned 75 cents.
His brother and sister couldn’t afford haircuts so they went to Chic’s Barber Shop where the barber took whatever they could pay.
They often didn’t have what they wanted to eat.
“In the Army, they said when you don’t have enough time to eat, eat it now and taste it later,” Williams said.
This comment drew applause.
“It was upon their backs, the freedoms we have today are because of them,” he said of veterans.
He said families of veterans also served both the community and supported those serving.
“My mother raised six kids off $3.35 an hour,” he said. “It was because of her I was able to come to Rust College.
In Abbeville, the family had no indoor plumbing. His first shower with running water came at age sixteen at Rust College.
Williams served as emergency manager for the state of Wisconsin and has called Wisconsin home for the last 30 years. He earned a Master of Arts in administrative leadership and supervision and a Ph.D in urban education in the state.
He offered a quote attributed to Edmund Burke, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
“You know freedom is not free,” he said. “America is still the best place in the world to live. It is unfortunate the only days veterans receive this much attention is Veterans Day, Memorial Day, and the 4th of July.”
Williams recalled the Minutemen who dropped their plows to pick up weapons at a minute’s notice during the American Revolution.
He said too many veterans are not receiving the services they deserve - professional help for their physical wounds, mental wounds and post-traumatic stress disorder. They deserve appropriate housing, mental health support and a tax break on their property.
“We just walk right past them,” he said. “We are not perfect soldiers, but proud soldiers who fight abroad, but lose everything at home because of lack of pay. It’s a major issue for veterans.”
Williams pay while serving in the National Guard was $500 a year.
“You can change with change or be consumed by change,” he said. “We live here excited, thinking change has already taken place. You have heroes and heroines sitting right over here.”
Williams said slavery and the holocaust should never happen again, quoting Martin Luther King Jr., who said, “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
A bibliophile, Williams said, “to our vets, because of you the rich diversity we claim is our strengths - around this city and our nation. It’s important everybody knows there should be a book for everybody in the library.
“Our children are writing the new chapter in their book of life. It would be wonderful if all their book is a best seller. Students, you write your own story and make sure your book is a best seller.”
Veterans present included:
• Dennis Jones, Army National Guard
• George Humphreys
• William Zimmerman, Navy, Army
• Brenda Payne Crawford, Air Force
•Chauncy Turnage, Army
• Frank Taylor, Air Force
• David Caldwell, Army
• Charles Pope, Marine Corps
• Linwood Turner, Navy and Army National Guard
• Enoch Lester, Army
• Larry Wright, Army
• Allen Billips, Army
• Holden Pickens, Army
• Lee DeBerry, Army
• Earnest Liggins, U.S. Marine Corps
• James Saulsberry, Army
• Darryl Bowens, Army
• M. Coleman, Army
• Travian Jeffries, Army
• Johnathan Woods, Army
• Michael Perkins
• Thelbert Lesure, Army
• Susie Brown, Air Force and Army Reserve