Lt. Gov. Griffin to address Veterans Day ceremony
Arkansas Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin will be the guest speaker for the community’s annual Veterans Day Service, which will be held this year on Monday, Nov. 12, by presidential proclamation, since the holiday fell on a Sunday.
The ceremony is set to begin at 11 a.m. Nov. 12 at the Garland County Veterans
Memorial and Military Park, located at 118 Orange St. near Transportation Depot, with Walt Thrasher, member of the Veterans Memorial Committee and Vietnam Veterans Organization, serving as master of ceremonies.
Griffin grew up in Magnolia, a fifth-generation Arkansan and the youngest son of a minister and teacher. He was elected the lieutenant governor of Arkansas on Nov. 4, 2014, and is currently serving his first four-year term, a news release said.
Griffin said he is focused on growing jobs through aggressively pursuing economic development, more parental choice in education and boldly reforming state government.
From 2011-15, Griffin served as the 24th representative of the state’s 2nd Congressional District. For the 113th Congress, he served on the House Committee on Ways and Means and as a Deputy Whip for the Majority. In the 112th Congress, he served as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, the House Committee on Ethics and the House Committee on the Judiciary. He also served as an Assistant Whip for the Majority. In Congress, he advocated for bold tax reform and entitlement reform to grow jobs and reduce the national debt.
During the Bush Administration, in 2006-07, Griffin served as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas and previously as special assistant to the president and deputy director of political affairs for President George W. Bush.
Griffin has served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve, Judge Advocate General’s Corps, for over 20 years and currently holds the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was mobilized to active duty in 2005 as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Ky., and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq, for which he was awarded the Combat Action Badge. He is currently serving as acting commander for the 139th Legal Operations Detachment in Nashville, Tenn. In July 2018, Griffin received his master’s degree in Strategic Studies as a distinguished graduate from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pa.
Griffin serves on the board of Our House shelter for the working homeless and previously served on the boards of the Florence Crittenton Home for unwed mothers and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arkansas, the release said.
He graduated from Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway and Tulane Law School in New Orleans and attended graduate school at Oxford University in England.
Griffin will be introduced at the ceremony by Veterans Memorial Committee member Ben Blankenship and Dick Holden, committee secretary, will deliver the official welcome to those in attendance.
The advance and retirement of the colors will be performed by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 2278 Honor Guard, with committee Chairman Jo West Davis leading the Pledge of Allegiance and Angela Ezekiel performing the national anthem and a patriotic medley as a special tribute to the veterans.
The names of new bricks and pavers added to the memorial will be announced by Karren Blankenship, committee treasurer, the bugle call to order and taps will be performed by Ross Rumore with Kevin Tuohy, Disabled American Veterans chaplain, delivering the benediction.
“Special Thanks to all veterans for their service, the city of Hot Springs, Bill Sexton and the Veterans Parade Committee, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Wheeler Printing, the Disabled American Veterans, to all of our volunteers, the Sunrise Rotary Club and the Hot Springs Civitan Club,” the release said.