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It doesn't have to be a specific month or day for you to pay tribute to the servicemen and women who have served America proudly. This season, seize every opportunity to memorialize veterans in Kentucky and Tennessee.

A great place to get started is the Veterans’ Museum in Halls, Tennessee. The 8,900 square-foot museum is owned and operated by the Dyersburg Army Air Base Memorial Association, Inc., and aims to “preserve materials and artifacts from WWI to date as a reminder to the older generations and to educate the younger generations about their heritage.” Exhibits in the museum include documents from national archives, diaries, technical publications and personal correspondence, as well as uniforms, supplies and divisional histories. Visitors will see an A-7 Corsair Jet and A-7 jet engine on loan from the Pensacola Naval Museum. Showing a different perspective of the war are exhibits depicting the lives of Halls-area families during wartime. Also on display are photos of more than 70 crews, and murals painted by artist Ernie Berke. For additional information, visit www.dyaab.us/dyaabmuseum.htm.

 

The Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Frankfort is an extraordinary state landmark. The memorial honors the 11,000 Kentuckians who died in the Vietnam War, as well as the 23 missing in action. The one-of-a-kind monument takes the form of a large sundial, and on the plaza below, each veteran's name is engraved and strategically placed so that the tip of the sundial (or “gnomon”) shadow touches the name on the anniversary of that veteran’s death. Each name is “fixed mathematically by the date of casualty, the geographic location of the memorial, the height of the gnomon and the physics of solar movement.” This is a truly remarkable achievement that allows “each fallen veteran a personal Memorial Day.” Visit www.kyvietnammemorial.net for more information and directions to this incredible site.

 

At the University of Tennessee’s College of Veterinary Medicine in Knoxville, dog lovers can pay their respects to four-legged companions who served in World War II. The War Dog Memorial, marked by a statue of a Doberman pinscher, stands in honor of the hundreds of heroic war dogs that served in the United States Marine Corps. Dobermans, as well as German shepherds, Labrador retrievers and collies served as messengers, scouts and beloved partners to the Marines who cared for them. The War Dog Memorial is a replica of the official memorial in Guam, and was donated to the College of Veterinary Medicine by Dr. Maurice Acree on July 17, 1998. Check out photos at www.vet.utk.edu/wardog.

 

Kentucky’s Jefferson Memorial Forest, located just 20 minutes from downtown Louisville, is a living, woodland memorial preserved in honor of all state veterans who served in wartime. The 6,191 acres serve as a quiet place for visitors to reflect upon the sacrifices of servicemen and women. Admire the Japanese honeysuckle that was during the late 1940s and early 1950s, as well as the veterans monument located at the Welcome Center. Learn more at www.louisvilleky.gov/metroparks/parks/jeffersonmemorialforest.

 

Whether you choose to visit a museum, hike a memorial nature trail or take a moment of silence at a monument, Kentucky and Tennessee are the perfect places for remembering and honoring America’s veterans.