HARRODSBURG, Ky. - With the sun shining down in Harrodsburg, Ky., July 13, 2013, soldiers from Harrodsburg’s Headquarters Company, 103rd Brigade Support Battalion and Danville’s A Company, 103rd worked in tandem unloading three large 105 mm howitzer cannons with great care.
Among those working, a quiet chatter amongst the troops spoke in excitement for the cannons’ purpose.
These artillery pieces, provided by Lexington's 138th Fires Brigade, will serve to honor fallen veterans when the American Veterans’ Traveling Tribute Wall comes to Harrodsburg’s Anderson-Dean Park from Aug. 29 to Sept. 2, 2013, concluding with a 21-gun salute on the wall’s last day in town.
For Danville, Ky., resident Sgt. Richard Walls, the wall’s presence in Harrodsburg takes on special meaning.
“The support this town shows for the military is unbelievable. It’s going to be a big time morale booster,” Walls speculated. “For me, the true meaning of the wall is to show that we don’t forget our fallen. This offers a chance for those who can’t make it to Washington to pay tribute.”
In addition to the cannons being on display with traveling wall and other planned tributes, local soldiers will provide an honorary guard for the wall during its three-day stay in Harrodsburg.
“Soldiers guarding the wall represents the military more than just having civilians in black T-shirts that say ‘security’ on them,” Walls explained. “It shows that we don’t forget.”
For more information on the traveling wall and its stay in Harrodsburg, please call (859)734-0218, (877)734-0127, or visit the American Veterans’ Traveling Tribute website at http://www.cost-freedom.org.