UTM hosts Memorial Day Observance May 28

Sgt. Cole Turner Champion, of Huntingdon, and Spc. David Hochreiter, of McKenzie, UT Martin students, will be guest speakers at the 10th annual Memorial Day Commemoration at the University of Tennessee at Martin.
The event is scheduled for 9 a.m., May 28, at the Hall-Moody Administration Building entrance.
Champion completed basic training and military job training at Ft. Jackson, S.C., and Ft. Huachuca, Ariz., respectively.
He completed one semester at UT Martin before being deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He served in Iraq until July 2009.
He then returned to UT Martin in the fall of 2009 to continue his education.
Hochreiter, of McKenzie, enlisted in the Tennessee Army National Guard, completed basic training at Ft. Sill, Okla., in 2006 and in early 2008, Hochreiter deployed to Iraq as a platoon medic. His unit was deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
After completion of his yearlong deployment, Hochreiter returned home in November 2009 and is continuing his education at UT Martin.
Area veterans are asked to call Janice Sims, at 731-881-7150, to confirm attendance so they can be recognized during the event.
Capt. Daniel F. Evans, Tennessee Army National Guard Officer Recruiter, will serve as master of ceremonies.
Dr. Robert Mancusi, assistant professor of music, will perform the national anthem, and Staff Sgt. Chuck Sadler, Tennessee Army National Guard recruiter, will offer the invocation and the benediction.
Dr. Tom Rakes, UT Martin chancellor, will welcome guests. The Tennessee National Guard will present the colors before the ceremony.
The UT Martin Department of Public Safety and members of the Martin Police Department will honor area veterans with a gun salute.
The event is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the Hardy M. Graham Stadium parking lot directly across from the Hall-Moody Administration Building.
Eastbound and westbound traffic on University Street, in front of the administration building, will be stopped briefly as the flag ceremony begins and during the gun salute.
In case of rain, the event will be moved to the Student Life Center on the UT Martin campus.

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