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 Lester Bailey starts a planning meeting Monday, March 24, to discuss details of the Vets for Freedom Heroes Tour stop in Marshall Thursday, March 27. The bus with decorated veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is expected to arrive about 3 p.m. The veterans will speak and answer questions at the Martin Community Center. (Eric Crump/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge] |
A number of veterans, patriots and county officials met Monday, March 24, to iron details from the last-minute schedule change that will bring the tour to Marshall.
Lester Bailey, who initiated the process, described how events unfolded.
He said he came across the group's Web site a couple of months ago, and in talking with Sheriff Wally George decided it would be a good gesture if the sheriff could provide an escort for the tour bus as it passed through Saline County on its way from Kansas City to Columbia.
But after discussing details with the tour's state coordinator, the group decided to make Marshall it's mid-Missouri stop rather than Columbia.
And Bailey wants to reward the group's decision with a big turnout.
He noted that an Austin, Texas, newspaper story put the crowd for the tour's stop there at about 100 people.
"This is little old Marshall, Mo.," he said. "Can we do better than that?"
Organizers, including a number of American Legion post representatives, pledged to spread the word and try to get a good turnout from area veterans.
They also hope residents from all walks of life, including young people, will find time to attend and hear the veterans' stories.
The plan still calls for a sheriff's escort from the Saline County line to Marshall, where the bus will go around the square once and, if the weather cooperates, possibly make a 10- to 15-minute stop at the veterans' memorial.
Then the group will head to the Martin Community Center for an approximately three-hour session that will include time for the audience members to ask questions and for a book signing session.
The question was raised at the planning meeting whether the purpose of the tour was to promote a political message regarding the controversial wars.
Bailey emphatically said it was not.
"This is a non-partison, non-profit" event, he said.
"Hey, we got some heroes here," he said. "They'll tell their own personal stories. We gotta show our respect and support them."
Among the veterans who are part of the tour, according to the group's Web site, are:
David Bellavia
Author of a war memoir, "House to House: An Epic Memoir of War," about door-to-door close combat in Iraq. He is a former army staff sergeant who served in the First Infantry Division for six years and is the recipient of the both Silver and Bronze Stars for valo.
Marcus Lutrell
A former U.S. Navy SEAL and Petty Officer First Class who was awarded a Purple Heart and a Navy Cross for combat heroism in Afghanistan. His book, "Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10" tells the story of a mission in which four Navy SEALs were sent into a Taliban stronghold on the Afghan-Pakistan border to capture a key Taliban leader.
Marco Martinez
The first Hispanic American since the Vietnam War to be awarded the Navy Cross, the second-highest honor awarded a U.S. Marine.
Steven "Steve" D. Russell
Retired Lieutenant Colonel Steve Russell was a leader in the battalion that was involved in the hunt and capture of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. He served 21 years in the U.S. Army's Airborne, Light and Mechanized units
Jeremiah Workman
Serve as a Marine squad leader in Fallujah, Iraq, during clearing operations on Dec. 23, 2004. He earned a Navy Cross Medal -- an honor second only to the Medal of Honor -- for "extraordinary heroism."
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