Sunday, November 17, 2019

Rural Medical Veterans recognition
Rural Medical Service on Friday recognized local veterans in a special Veterans Day program. CEO Larry Stanifer said he served in Vietnam with the Navy. He said the Marines saved his life twice and he had to be medevaced out of the country on both occasions. And he was awarded two Purple Hearts for his service. One of the veterans in attendance was 94 year-old Jack Swanger, who served in the Navy in World War II. Swanger said he enjoyed the cruises he was afforded during hi8s service with the Navy. Those three cruises took him to the Persian Gulf, Russia and the Aleutian Islands. He saw no action until near the end of his last trip, when Swanger's ship was attacked. " There were dozens of airplanes over the top of us. I never seen so many planes in my life, they dropped bombs for an hour. That was the only action I had seen." Rob Watkins, an Air Force Veteran, who is a member of the DAV, American Legion and Amvets, and who does public relations for the Tennessee Department of State for Amvets talked about the local veteran's organizations. He said they all provide valuable assistance to local veterans. Watkins said more than 3,000 veterans live in Cocke County, and they bring lots of influence to local government. "We are a distressed county and there are lots of local veteran's families who are struggling," he said. "Now with the holidays coming up we need to be particularly aware of their needs. We know that currently in the US there are 22 veteran suicides on an average day."


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