Kent County Vietnam Veterans to host ceremony Nov. 11

Kent County Chapter 850, Vietnam Veterans of America, will host a Veterans Day ceremony at 2 p.m., Friday, Nov. 11, at the Kent County Memorial Park in Dover. The keynote speaker will be Air Force Col. D. Scott "Bull" Durham, commander of the 512th Airlift Wing, an Air Force Reserve command associate wing located at Dover Air Force Base. He is the senior officer responsible for the 1,750-person organization, which supports Air Mobility Command’s worldwide airlift mission, operating C-5M Super Galaxy and C-17A Globemaster III aircraft.

Durham began his military career when he graduated from the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina. He served as an air traffic controller, a C-130E pilot and a C-17A pilot while on active duty. During this time he flew numerous combat missions supporting operations in Kosovo, Hungary, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Kent County Veterans Memorial Park is situated on the northern tip of the Kent County Administration Building property and was created by VVA Chapter 850 through private donations and selling of memorial bricks. The site is home to multiple memorials to those lost in American conflicts, including Vietnam, Korea and the Middle East. It also includes a Gold Star Mother and Families Memorial, a tribute to war dogs and their handlers and a POW/MIA Chair of Honor. The park features a UH 1 “Huey” helicopter on an 18-foot stand. Attendees are encouraged to bring a can of food for the Veterans United Outreach, a committee of Chapter 850 that will host Thanksgiving dinner for veterans in need. The park is on South Little Creek Road in Dover across from IHOP restaurant.