Nashville – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Tennessee Department of Veterans Services Commissioner Courtney Rogers and Tennessee Adjutant General Major General Jeff Holmes honored and recognized five veteran state employees and more than 450,000 Tennessee veterans of all ages and eras at the annual Governor’s Veterans Day event today on the Tennessee Tower Plaza in downtown Nashville.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Department of Veterans Services Commissioner Courtney Rogers recognize the service and sacrifice of U.S. Army Captain Rufus J. Hyman of Memphis, who was reported missing July 30, 1950 while serving in the Korean War. The Central High School graduate was assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division and was engaged in combat actions against the North Korean People’s Army when he went missing. Hyman was 23-years-old.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Tennessee Department of Veterans Services Commissioner Courtney Rogers recognize the service and sacrifice of U.S. Army Major Trevor Joseph of Collierville. Joseph was killed when his UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed while attempting to recover a soldier on the Fort Polk training ranges on September 26. The aviation accident, which is still under investigation, injured three other soldiers. Joseph was the commander of the Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Aviation Regiment, known as “Cajun Dustoff,” at the time of the accident. He was 33-years-old.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Tennessee Department of Veterans Services Commissioner Courtney Rogers recognize the selfless service and sacrifice of U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Jeremy Griffin of Greenbrier. Griffin was killed in action on September 16, 2019 by small arms fire while his unit was engaged in combat operations in Wardak Province, Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Special Forces (Airborne) and stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington. He was 40-years-old at the time of the attack.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Department of Veterans Services Commissioner Courtney Rogers, Deputy Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Tommy Baker, State Rep. Micah Van Huss (R-TN) and Department of Veterans Services Regional Director Tim Forte participated in a solemn unveiling ceremony for the new Gulf War Monument this afternoon on the Legislative Plaza in downtown Nashville.

CLEVELAND – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Department of Veterans Services Commissioner Courtney Rogers and Ed Harries, Executive Director of the Tennessee State Veterans’ Home Board, were joined by federal, state and local partners today as they broke ground on the new Bradley County Tennessee State Veterans’ Home in Cleveland.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Department of Veterans Services (TDVS) Commissioner Courtney Rogers and Tennessee State Veterans Home Board (TSVHB) Executive Director Ed Harries today announced the groundbreaking date for the Bradley County Tennessee State Veterans Home as Wednesday, August 21, 2019 in Cleveland. This announcement follows approval by the Tennessee State Building Commission (SBC) earlier today of a $30,524,427 grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for the new State Veterans Home.

Nashville – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Tennessee Department of Veterans Services Commissioner Courtney Rogers and Tennessee Military Department Adjutant General, Major General Jeffrey Holmes paid tribute to ten service members who gave the ultimate sacrifice during the state’s Memorial Day service today.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Department of Veterans Services Commissioner Courtney Rogers recognize the service and sacrifice of U.S. Army Private First Class William Delaney of Kingston, who was killed on November 22, 1944 during World War II. The Roane County native served with Company A, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division when his battalion engaged with German defenders near Grosshau, in the Hürtgen Forest in Germany. Delaney’s foxhole was struck by an enemy artillery shell and he could not be medically evacuated. He was 24-years-old.

NASHVILLE - Tennessee Department of Veterans Services Deputy Commissioner Tilman Goins completed a tandem parachute jump Wednesday, April 17, with the U.S. Army Parachute Team, popularly known as the “Golden Knights” at Outlaw Field at the Clarksville Regional Airport outside of Fort Campbell, KY.

On January 29th, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that the presumption of exposure to Agent Orange should extend to Blue Water Vietnam Veterans. Blue Water Vietnam Veterans are Veterans who served on a Navy or Coast Guard ship in or around Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

NASHVILLE - Tennessee Department of Veterans Services Commissioner Courtney Rogers addressed a room packed with representatives from half of Tennessee’s public and private non-profit higher education institutions last Friday for the fifth annual Statewide Veteran Education Academy hosted at the new Tennessee College of Applied Technology Murfreesboro’s Smyrna campus.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Department of Veterans Services Commissioner Courtney Rogers recognize the service and sacrifice of U.S. Navy Lieutenant Richard C. “Tito” Lannom of Union City, who was reported missing as of March 1, 1968 during the Vietnam War. The Obion County native was assigned to Attack Squadron Three Five, USS Enterprise and was on an A-6A aircraft on a night mission over North Vietnam when the aircraft went missing. Lannom and the pilot were declared missing after a search and rescue mission failed to locate the plane. Lannom was 27-years old when he went missing.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Department of Veterans Services Commissioner Many-Bears Grinder recognize the service and sacrifice of U.S. Marine Corps Corporal William “Carter” Ross of Hendersonville. Ross was declared deceased by the Marine Corps on December 11 after five days of search and rescue operations to find five Marines involved in an accident involving two aircraft. The KC-130 Hercules was assigned to the Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 152, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and the F/A-18 Hornet was assigned to Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 242. Ross was 21-years old at the time of the accident off the coast of Japan on December 6. He was in the flight crew on the KC-130 at the time of the accident, which is currently under investigation.

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Department of Veterans Services Commissioner Many-Bears Grinder announce she will retire from public service on January 19, 2019. After 35 years in the Army National Guard and eight years as the first woman to serve as Commissioner for the Department of Veterans Services. Grinder is leaving to spend more time with family and pursue educational options, but plans to remain connected to the military and veteran communities.