American Legion's Memorial Day Program
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Guest Speaker Max Bennett
Max Bennett is a local community leader and retired
US Army Chief Warrant Officer Four who served for 23 years. Max is
the Past Vice-President and still an active Volunteer of the Honor
Flight, Tennessee Valley.
As the Guest Speaker at the Memorial Day Program,
Max spoke to the dedication of our soldiers today. “This is what is
important this Memorial Day; this is what you teach your children”.
He went on to say “all Veterans signed a check for something and
some paid the ultimate price and that is what we are here to talk
about today”.
As he continued to speak of our past and present
veterans he said, “They wrote a check that said, ‘I will if
necessary, give my life for you, so you don’t have to,’ and then
goes off to do it, that is what deserves honor and deserves a
Memorial Day.” “They deserve today as their ‘Honor’. They rise every
day with their weapons in hand and do their sworn duty.
He closed with the words from a song of modern day
musician Edwin McCain, the full song is listed below.
Pictured in the last photo, touring the displays at
the museum is Malcolm Douglas Pepper WW II Veteran from the USS
Idaho, accompanying Mr. Pepper is his wife Peggy Colvette-Pepper,
daughter Alysha Towe and Roger Keyes, Commander, V F W Post 4765.
Teresa Todd
5/31/2010
"Prayer To St. Peter"
Let them in, Peter
For they are very tired
Give them couches where the angels sleep
And light those fires
Let them wake whole again
To brand new dawns
Fired by the sun
Not war-times bloody guns
May their peace be deep
Remember where the broken bodies lie
God knows how young they were
To have to die
You know God knows how young they were
To have to die
Give them things they like
Let them make some noise
Give dance hall bands not golden harps
To these our boys
Let them love Peter
For they've had no time
They should have bird songs and trees
And hills to climb
The taste of summer
And a ripened pear
And girls as sweet as meadow wind
And flowing hair
And tell them how they are missed
But say not to fear
It's gonna be all right
With us down here
Edwin McCain
www.edwinmccainmusic.com
Max Bennett Bio
Max Bennett is a local community leader and retired
US Army Chief Warrant Officer Four who served for 23 years
He is the recipient of the “2009 Huntsville Veteran
of the Year” at the 2009 Veterans Day dinner at the Von Braun Civic
Center.
Max is the President of the Redstone Arsenal Chapter
of the US Army Warrant Officers Association (USAWOA), the 2004,
2007, and 2009 Outstanding Chapter of the Year? The Association
provides a myriad of services including the annual award of a $1,000
scholarship.
www.restonewarrants.com
He is the Past Vice-President and still an active
Volunteer of the Honor Flight, Tennessee Valley. Max has flown
currently on 10 of the 11 Honor Flights that have taken over 1,100
WWII Veterans to see their monuments in Washington DC, free of
charge to the Veteran. www.honorflight.net
Max’s Warrant Officer Chapter is an active Member of
the North Alabama Veterans Coalition (NAVFOC) sponsoring such events
as Operation Christmas Bear and the Madison County Veterans Day
Parade.
www.navfoc.org
Lee Marshal and Max have co-hosted the
Huntsville/Madison Veteran’s Day Parade broadcast on WAFF Channel 48
for the past 3 years.
www.waff.com
Another effort he has pioneered in Madison County is
to bury veterans with no family representatives at the Alabama
National Cemetery rather than placed in a pauper’s grave.
Max was an organizer for the June 6th D-Day
Commemoration at the US Space and Rocket Center this year.
Max Bennett holds a Master Degree (MBA) in
Technology Management and a Bachelor’s Degree (BS) in Sociology for
the State University of New York.
