Employees speak at Memorial Day ceremonies

Two Grayson College employees, Billy Teague, Veteran Outreach Specialist, and Craig Greenwood, Veteran Services Coordinator, spoke at separate Memorial Day ceremonies on Monday, May 29. 

Teague delivered the Memorial Day speech at West Hill Cemetery in Sherman. Addressing a crowd of more than 200, Teague, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Army National Guard, U.S. Army and current member of the Texas State Guard Medical Brigade, spoke on the origin of Memorial Day and shared his personal story of waiting on his hero—his father—to return home from Vietnam 48 years ago.

In closing, Teague challenged the audience to follow the advice of the late President John F. Kennedy who said, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”

Providing the keynote speech for the Denison Memorial Day Ceremony was Lt. Col. Craig Greenwood who retired from the U.S Air Force in 2015 after 28 years of active duty.

Greenwood discussed the history of Memorial Day with approximately 150 attendees at the Denison SNAP Center. He went on to share stories of local veterans, including Dub Phelps from Sadler, Jack Morrison of Denison and Braden Long of Sherman—all three men died in action.

“We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens,” said Greenwood. “For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.”