JACKSON COUNTY, WV (WOWK) – Ripley honoring veterans Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020 with a parade and ceremony.
The parade begins at 10 a.m. near Ripley High School and proceeds to the Veterans Memorial on the Jackson County Courthouse lawn. The parade will feature the Military Honor March of photo posters. You can watch it right here!
City officials say three representatives from Jackson General Hospital who served in the military are serving as the parade’s Grand Marshals.
- Dr. Carl Overmiller was an active duty Flight Surgeon with the Air Force in 1988-89 and a USAF General Surgeon in 1992-94.
- Dr. Steven Eshenaur was an active duty forward observer and physician retiring in 2018 after 30 years of service. He completed tours in Korea, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan.
- Libby Dillon, an RN shift supervisor, is a recent military retiree. She spent 16 years in the military. Serving in Afghanistan, her unit was the first to set up a hospital in a combat area.
Another special guest is for the parade is Jackson County resident Adam Greathouse, who was selected the National Disabled Veteran of the Year.
Other participants include the Sons of the American Revolution Color Guard, the Old Hickory Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Ripley High School Marching Band. World War II survivors Vic Yoak and Osburn Perrine of Ripley and Jim Porter of Ravenswood will also be honored.
Ripley High School’s 2020 Homecoming Court will also honor their own military connections in the parade.
“It’s fantastic that young people want to be involved in the parade,” said Ripley Mayor Carolyn Rader. “They were not able to have a homecoming parade this fall, so we’re pleased that they want to help honor our veterans.”
The ceremony will follow the parade, beginning on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. The guest speaker for the event is Shirley White, president of West Virginia’s Gold Star Mothers Association. White and her husband, Stan, are retired educators who live in Tucker County. The Whites say their son Robert was killed in action while serving with the Army’s 82nd Airborne in Afghanistan in 2005. Their son Andrew was a Marine who served on more than 300 missions in Iraq. Andrew died in 2008 from a sudden cardiac arrest associated with post-traumatic stress disorder.
