Centerville to honor veterans this month
The City of Centerville has many proud traditions where we honor the men and women who served and continue to serve our country. In addition to our designation as a Purple Heart City, Stubbs Park is also home to the Veterans Memorial. The brick walkway is lined with the names of local veterans. Each year we also host the Veterans Day and Memorial Day ceremonies there.
This year’s Veterans Day ceremony will be held on Thursday, Nov. 11, at 11 a.m.
In 2019, we started the tradition of honoring a handful of living veterans in particular. These men and women have shared their rich tales of combat, terror, bravery, sadness and pride. This year’s honorees are featured on the homepage at centervilleohio. gov.
Those featured include 81-year-old William (Gill) Friel, who retired as a colonel after 30 years of active-duty service in the United States Air Force.
Friel is a Vietnam-era veteran with international assignments in Pakistan, Turkey and Korea. One of his final assignments was as the Deputy Commander of the Defense Personnel Support Center, where they provided subsistence, medical supplies, equipment and clothing to all military men and women engaged in the 1990-91 Gulf War.
Our keynote speaker this year is Chief Master Sergeant Jason Shaffer, who served as the Command Chief Master Sergeant for the 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patterson
Air Force Base. As the senior enlisted leader, he provides advice and counsel on enlisted issues to approximately 5,000 officers, civilians and enlisted members.
Chief Shaffer has taken part in multiple presidential support missions and has deployed in support of numerous humanitarian, contingency and combat operations in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and South Asia and Pacific regions. He is a certified Senior Parachutist who has earned the German, Serbian, Belgian, French and Bosnian parachutist badges.
We hope you will join us to honor these men — and many other men and women — on Nov. 11. Thanks to their sacrifices and bravery, our country remains a symbol of freedom throughout the world.