"Tuskegee Airman" Harvey Alexander
Local and nationally known veterans of the Battle of Normandy, “Operation Market Garden,” the Battle of the Bulge, Okinawa, and other World War II operations will be on hand August 9-11 at the Broyhill Center on the campus of Appalachian State University to share their memories and to pay tribute to their “band of brothers.”
The symposium, sponsored by Frye Regional Medical Center in Hickory, will feature presentations by Kevin Hymel, a leading expert on “Old Blood & Guts” General George S. Patton; by Harvey Alexander, a member of the famous Tuskegee Airmen celebrated in the recent Hollywood movie Red Tails; and Ken Wiley, a local Watauga County veteran, author of Lucky Thirteen about his experiences on Landing Craft 13 in the South Pacific.
The symposium will also feature displays of war memorabilia gathered from Watauga County veterans, the “Traveling Trunks” of items collected for the D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Va., WWII artwork, books for sale, and DVDs of interviews with local veterans.
For advance tickets to the symposium (which include a $20 discount for adults), visit the website: http://www.appalachianwwiivets.org/?page_id=401. More information on speakers, sponsors, exhibits, etc. can be accessed at http://www.appalachianwwiivets.org/.
