Remarks of Emmitt f. yeary

Veterans Day

November 11, 2007

Veterans memorial park

Abingdon, Virginia

On every veterans and Memorial Day since this park’s beginning on June 2, 2003, citizens have come together and assembled in the park to remember and give thanks to our service men and women.

Today we are again gathered to pay tribute to our American service men and women and to the veterans who have given of their lives for our country. We are paying special tribute today to the service men and women of World War 1. Unfortunately, our World War 1 veterans are now all gone but many members of their families remain. None of these veterans should ever be forgotten.

Among my personal remembrances and reflections of World War 1 veterans include the picture of my grandfather’s brother, who was from lee county, Virginia, standing proudly in his doughboy uniform alongside his three brothers. My grandfather proudly hung this picture in his farmhouse in Wise County for all to see.

Another memory is of Mr. Welford bell who was a local attorney who I met as a young man many years ago. I was privileged to work with Mr. Bell on his last case. I can still remember him as he was walking up through a hillside cornfield out in black hollow when he was well into his late 80’s to investigate a case for a client. Mr. Bell typified the World War 1 veteran, always giving and helping others to the last. Mr. Bell lost three fingers to a machine gun in the argon forest. Mr. Bell never mentioned this, but I heard about it through others.

I was also privileged to know Dr. French Moore sr. We were in the American legion together and I believe he was the oldest surviving Washington county World War 1 veteran when he died.

I had also heard of Johnny woods’ father who was a pilot in World War 1 and was the brother of lt. Billy Webb’s mother. Johnny had the sad duty to tell Mrs. Webb of the loss of her son In Vietnam. Billy Webb’s story helped to inspire the creation of this park.

John Augustus Blakemore

Mr. Blakemore was a young man and student at Emory & Henry College when the United States entered the war. He lacked one exam to graduate but wanting to be one of the first in line joining the ranks from Washington County, he left without taking the exam even though he knew it would be unexcused and he would not be able to receive a degree. He chose to be one of the first in line even though this meant that he would be entering the army as an enlistee rather than as a commissioned officer. Later while serving in France, sgt. Blakemore turned away general pershing from an ammo dump when the general had forgotten the appropriate password. General Pershing gave Sgt. Blakemore a commendation for his vigilance. When the American legion was formed in Paris, shortly after the wars end, sgt. Blakemore was there and was a founding member of the American legion. Later, he was the commander of the American legion for the state of Virginia. After the war, Mr. Blakemore moved back to Washington County, Virginia and entered law school. Mr. Blakemore owned Whitetop Mountain and was the cofounder of the famous whitetop folksong festivals, which lasted until shortly before World War II. In 1938, he escorted Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt to the festival. When World War II broke out, he again volunteered for the army, this time serving in Europe under General Patton. Before he re-entered the army, however, he drove his daughter Mary, who was a recent Emory & Henry graduate, from Emory to Abingdon to help her enlist in the army. Mary, who was a small woman, did not meet the weight requirement, so Mr. Blakemore took her up the street to a grocery store and had her eat several bananas. He then took her back to be re-weighed and she was then able to enlist. Mary served in New Guinea as a code breaker while her father, now major Blakemore, served in Europe. Major Blakemore also encouraged my going into the army and is one of the people most responsible for my making Abingdon and Washington County my home. For this, I will always be grateful to major Blakemore.

Hugh browning

Hugh browning left the coal mines of West Virginia to become an artillery observer during World War I. Like Mr. Bell, he also saw action in the argon forest. He returned home, became a West Virginia state trooper, then a high school principal and shortly thereafter died from a rabid dog bite in Buchanan County, Virginia, leaving a widow, three sons, and a daughter. The youngest son was then six months old and never got to know more than just stories of his father. This son is Larry browning, who now serves on the tree commission that oversees the arboretum of this park.

Frank McFarlane

Frank McFarlane was born in Tennessee in 1890. His grandfather had been a slave who last saw his mother when he was 6 years old when she came to the plantation house fence to tell him she was being sold to another plantation. Frank enlisted in the army and served gallantly during World War I. During the battle in the argon forest, he lost all the toes on his right foot and three of his fingers on his right hand. He came back home and married an Abingdon girl and here they raised four children; three girls and a boy. Mr. McFarlane always, even with his disability, worked full time at the old Vann hardware and at the same time was a janitor at what was then known as the Kings Mountain colored school on Kings Mountain where his wife worked as a cook. Mr. McFarlane also took his truck to pick up garbage for the people in the Cumming heights area on a weekly basis. Mr. McFarlane taught his children not to complain, be thankful, be honorable, hold their head high, and serve their country. One of his children is with us today, Francine ivery. Francine is a member of our board of directors. Francine attended the kings mountain school until she was in high school when she was then bussed to the Bristol high school where the black children attended until the schools were desegregated. Often in the wintertime, when the schools in Abingdon were closed due to bad weather and dangerous road conditions, the black children would still be bussed to Bristol, where their schools were still open. Francine was only able to enter Abingdon high school in the 11^th grade When the schools were desegregated and she was in the second integrated class to graduate from Abingdon high school. Like her father and brother, Francine also joined the United States army. After the army, Francine came back home and finished college and is now the manager of the nutritional program of the Washington county school system where her mother was once a cook.

This is what America is about and why this is not just an Abingdon or Washington county park, but is an American park

These are just a few of the veterans that we should remember. Today we should especially remember the 72 others from Washington County who did not return from world war I and the thousands of others who died serving our country and were never able to return home to their friends and loved ones.

These souls we must never forget.

Today we will be unveiling and dedicating a monument in remembrance of them all. We will also be unveiling two informational signs. One is about world war I. the other tells how the poppy became a symbol of remembrance. These signs are the latest in a series of historical and informational signs that will be placed throughout the park.

While we all should pray for peace and freedom, we should never forget that until all mankind is peaceful, we will always need our service men and women to obtain and preserve the peace and protect our liberties.

Today and every day we should remember and be thankful for and pay tribute to our veterans of all the wars and all of our service men and women who have and are continuing to fight for freedom and peace. May god bless them all and may god bless America.

At this time I will ask the families and relatives of World War I service men and women to please stand and be recognized.