Pre-Vets Day salute to Smokey veterans

November 2, 2006

By PAUL ROY
Independent Herald Publisher

SMOKEY CREEK — Veterans Day won’t officially be observed until November 11, but the community of Smokey Creek got an early start on recognizing their former military personnel, both living and dead, during a brief ceremony held at Hembree’s Grocery on Saturday.

The event was conceived and organized by Delford Lowe and his wife, who wanted to do something special for the veterans of the Smokey Creek area. It included a lot of phone calls and searching for the whereabouts of area natives, most of whom left their mountainous home in their late teens to serve in the military and ended up living and working somewhere else.

Lowe, who was one of those veterans but came home in retirement, says he and his wife also visited all the cemeteries in and around the community to jot down the names of deceased veterans in an effort to recognize as many as possible who hailed from Smokey and served in the armed services.

Of course, it may be impossible to identify all of them, since it’s an old community and volunteers into the service began as far back as the Civil War. But, says Lowe, it’s a start and the list will grow as more information becomes available to him.

Saturday’s ceremony, which began with a prayer, lasted only a few minutes. All present pledged allegiance to the flag, heard a few words from Lowe, State Rep. Les Winningham and Scott County Veterans Service Officer Ron Keeton, and then had a photo made of all the Smokey Creek area veterans present for the ceremony.

Lowe’s remarks included a reading of a list of Smokey Creek Community area vets known to be living and who were invited to participate. Thirteen of the 31 names on that list lived close enough to attend the ceremony and are identified in the photo which accompanies this article. Others unable to attend were identified as Arnold Cross, Ovie Cross, Virgil Gibson, Audie Lowe, Demus Lowe, Larry Lowe, Riley Lowe, Ronnie Lowe, Wiley Lowe, Ricky Massengale, Paul Shoopman, Dillon Ward, Hoyt Lowe, Harold Anderson, Archie Cross, Robert Lowe and Sherd Lowe.

Lowe also provided a list of 41 deceased veterans from the Smokey Creek area. They include: Charles Anderson, Elmer Anderson, Fred Anderson, George Anderson, Herbert Anderson, Lonzo Anderson, Robert Anderson, Ronald Anderson, Billy Carroll, L.D. Cross, Riley Cross, Fred Gibson, Joseph Harness, Albert Hembree, Egbert Hembree, Meshack Hembree, Richard Kennedy, Alexander Lowe, Alfred Lowe, Avery Lowe, Clarence Lowe, Egbert Lowe, Archie Lowe, Ewell Lowe, Hubert Lowe, Luke Lowe, Maine Lowe, Odas Lowe, Walter Lowe, George Harness, Wilbert Lowe, Odas Mason, Hobert Mason, Ulysses McGhee, Donald Massengale, Elmer Massengale, Mickinley Massengale, Junior Owens, Jay Owens, Hobert Owens, Hurstle Shoopman and Lester Shoopman.

Saturday’s salute to the veterans concluded with refreshments and fellowship on the front porch of one of this county’s few remaining country stores, Hembree’s Grocery.

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