Howard to speak at Memorial Day event

First Sgt. Timothy Howard will give the keynote address Monday morning during a Memorial Day ceremony at Warren County Airport.

?He knows what it means to fight for freedom,? said VFW Post 5064 Commander Richard Wisniewski of 1st Sgt. Howard. ?He?s well qualified to give this speech.?

Howard is a 22-year military veteran and the current JROTC instructor at Warren County High School. He has served in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan as a member of the 101st Airborne and 82nd Airborne. He has also done a tour of duty in Italy.

?Considering what?s going on right now, and the amount of young men and women who are giving their lives, Memorial Day is about them,? said Howard. ?It?s for wars past and present.?

Howard says his speech will focus on what Memorial Day should be about.

?It?s not about finding great sales at the mall,? said Howard. ?I?d like for people to think about what Memorial Day really stands for.?

The Memorial Day ceremony begins at 7 a.m.

It will feature a prayer from Angie Youngblood, youth pastor at Christ Community Church, reading of the Warren County war dead from Chuck Mayfield, and ?Taps? from Sandy Hays.

For those who miss the ceremony, it will be replayed on radio later that day at 11:03 a.m. on WCPI 91.3 FM.