The Covington Veterans Foundation in partnership with the City of Andalusia Tuesday night announced the inaugural Celebration of Heroes: A Salute to Covington County Veterans.
The two-week event will begin on Sunday, November 3, with a musical celebration of veterans and the opening of a veterans exhibit at City Hall. The Celebration has been designated an Alabama Bicentennial event.
Foundation members John Vick and Robert Evers reviewed the plans with the Andalusia City Council Tuesday night.
The celebration, which is being coordinated by Covington Veterans Foundation member Amy Dugger, is set for 2 p.m. in the newly-renovated Andalusia High School auditorium. Members of the Andalusia High School band, along with other groups, will present the musical tribute. Retired Lt. Col. Jim Lawrence will be the keynote speaker.
Following the ceremony, a reception in Andalusia City Hall will mark the opening of a historical exhibit focusing on the contributions of local veterans.
Vick said Rodney J. Evans of Florala, the county’s only recipient of the Medal of Honor. will be among those veterans honored in the exhibit. Evans died in Vietnam in July 1969 shielding his fellow soldiers from an enemy mine. Also to be spotlighted are the late Brigadier General James U. Cross of Pleasant Home, an Air Force One pilot and personal confident of President Lyndon D, Johnson; Ben “Crum” Foshee, member of the famed Flying Tigers squadron that fought the Japanese in China before the U.S. entered the war; Eland Anthony of Andalusia, WWII Silver Star recipient who was present for the liberation of the Dachau death camp in Germany; and Charles Saunders of Opp, a military guard at the Nuremberg Trials of the surviving leaders of the defeated Nazi regime.
The Foundation also will produce tribute banners for individual veterans to be placed in the downtown area. Those who would like to sponsor a banner for a veteran who served may do so for $50. Forms are available in the CVF office located in the County Administration Building, 190 Hillcrest Drive, Room 170. Forms also can be downloaded from the Covington Veterans Foundation’s Facebook page, or www.andalusiaveterans.com/get-involved.
The new events will not replace the county’s traditional Veterans Day Parade and Service held each year.
The Covington Veterans Foundation was formed to recognize and honor local veterans both past and present as well as active duty military members. It is also involved in renewing civic education and citizenship among our local students. Foundation board members, in addition to Vick and Evers, are Ben Bowden, Sammy Glover, Teresa Ward, Robert Evers, Roger Powell, Daniel Shakespeare, Sue Wilson, Barbara Peek, Michele Gerlach, Terry Powell and Amy Dugger.