By Patty Montagno
Staff Writer
The city of Sachse is inviting the community to honor all veterans during the annual Memorial Day ceremony. The event will start at 11:30 a.m. May 29 outside the Sachse Public Library facing Bryan Street. The prestigious Vietnam Veterans Moving Wall will be the backdrop for the traditional ceremony. Memorial Day Committee Chairman and City Councilman Brett Franks will act as master of ceremonies.
Franks predicts the festivities to be short, yet very moving.
“We will have presence from city officials as well as members of the police and fire departments,” he said. “We anticipate a large crowd.”
The featured speaker will be retired Air Force Master Sergeant Ed Taylor. His presentation will highlight his service on a SPECTRE gunship during the Vietnamese conflict.
Taylor was a door gunner on a C-130 gun ship, flying missions to stem the flow of North Vietnamese Army personnel and supplies into South Vietnam. He enlisted in the Air Force in 1960.
He was an airborne weapons technician/supervisor and performed duties on aircraft weapons systems. During his term of service he was stationed in Vietnam, Japan, Korea and Thailand. Taylor also flew 148 combat missions as a gunner in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. He was involved in numerous battles in Vietnam from 1965-1966 and again in 1972.
Taylor was awarded twelve medals during his career. Some of the most distinguished are the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with 7 Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal with 10 Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Force Good Conduct Medal with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Force Longevity Service Award with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Good Conduct Medal and Vietnam Service Medal with 3 Battle Stars.
The ceremony will also include a medley of songs from a local youth choir, the laying of the Veterans Memorial Wreath of flowers, war casualty statistics and a stirring rendition of Taps.
The Moving Wall, a half-scale aluminum panel replica of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C., will be open for visitors continuously May 26 through May 29 at the Sachse Municipal Complex located at 3815 Sachse Rd.
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