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THE LEADER THURSDAY, MAY 22, 2014 ▪ VO L . 1 2 9 , N O. 3 5 ▪ T H E VO I C E O F TIPTON COUNTY S I N C E 1 8 8 6 ▪
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IN MEMORY
Former salesman Harris Sr., 87, dies
MEMORIAL DAY: SOME GAVE ALL
By ECHO DAY eday@covingtonleader.com In The Leader office, he was known at "Papa Jack" and, even though he'd retired nearly a decade ago, he'd still stop by to say hello. After all, old habits die hard, and when you've spent more than half a century working for the same company, you often find yourself back in familiar surroundings. "Mr. Jack was a treasure and a friend. He visited the office regularly and we'd talk HARRIS fishing for a while and touch on matters of family and community," said Brian Blackley, publisher of The Leader. On Friday, May 16, Papa Jack suffered a massive heart attack while fishing at Pickwick. He died a short time later. "As anyone who knew him could tell you, Mr. Jack loved fishing almost as much as he loved his family, and those shared interests are why I felt a bond with him. I took comfort in knowing he was with his son with a fishing rod in hand when he fell ill. In that way, it was almost like Mr. Jack wrote his own ending. I'll miss our talks and my thoughts and prayers are with his wife, his children and their families, whom he loved dearly." He began his long career in 1952, working in the bindery for 75 cents an
Two veterans mourn fallen soldiers at the Celebration of Service and Sacrifice event's traveling Vietnam Memorial last October. Nearly a dozen Tipton Countians were killed in action during Vietnam. Photos by Echo Day
Gone, but not forgotten By SHERRI ONORATI Special to The Leader Memorial Day is a day of remembrance, the day we honor our service men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice while serving their country. Tipton County’s sons have never shied away from conflict. They have answered the call and fought in every battle their country has asked them to. Vietnam was no different. The Vietnam War was a long, costly, and unpopular conflict that pitted the communist regime of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. By the time U.S. forces withdrew in 1973, more than 58,000 Americans, including 11 Tipton Countians had lost their lives. This Memorial Day, we honor those 11 sons of Tipton County – three from Atoka, three from Brighton, four from Covington and one from Mason. The oldest was just 26 and the youngest two were 19. Their average age was 20. Only one was recorded as having married and a father. They were all in the prime of their lives. Sergeant John Albert Hughlett, U.S. Army, of Brighton, was the first Tipton Countian to die in Vietnam. He was killed on Nov. 8, 1965 in the province of Bien Hoa, just north of the Dong Nai Rover, after arriving in country just six months before on May, 4 1965. Brighton’s Billy Clyde Alston, an Army Specialist was a Light Weapons Infantryman and had been in country less than five months when he was killed at age 19 on April 15, 1969 by enemy fire in the province of Tay Ninh. Army Sgt. Leroy Buford of Atoka, enlisted in the Army on Oct. 13, 1965 for a three-year tour as an Infantry Operations and Intelligence Specialist. He arrived in Vietnam on Feb. 22, 1967 and has the distinction of being the oldest Tipton Countian to die in Vietnam and yet, he was only 26 years old when he was killed by rocket
SEE HARRIS, PAGE A3
Brighton's Jimmy Dale Blalack was killed in action in the Quang Tin Province on Oct. 31, 1968. The 22-year-old left behind a wife and young daughter.
mortars on April 18, 1967 in Tay Ninh Province, South Vietnam. The following memory was left on the page dedicated to Buford by retired Colonel Lawrence Brede, Jr. on June 15, 1999: “I first met SGT Buford at Ft. Devens, MA, where he was a part of the training cadre for the newly formed 196th Light Infantry Brigade. I was then a Second Lieutenant and served as SGT Buford's platoon leader. We formed and trained a Reconnaissance platoon for the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry, which deployed to Vietnam in June of 1966. SGT Buford was one of our stalwart leaders in the platoon. He "led from the front" and always ensured that his men were prepared for battle. Perhaps more importantly, he maintained his sense of humor and contributed in a positive way to the morale of our unit under very difficult circumstances. After we were in Vietnam for about half of our tour, he along with several others from our seasoned unit were transferred to another unit so that we would not rotate back to the States at the same time. It was in that unit that SGT Buford gave his life for our country. While I SEE VIETNAM, PAGE A3
Waiver granted in TCAP scoring delay By FRANCE GASQUET fgasquet@covingtonleader.com The TCAP testing your child took this spring won’t be a part of their school grade, the Tennessee Department of Education announced Tuesday, noting that a postponement was in effect due to an elimination of student indicators, which did not align with the Common Core Standards. In a letter to state superintendents Tuesday, assistant commissioner for data and research, Erin O’Hara, wrote, "We recognize that delaying quick score release has an impact on finalizing student grades and report cards, and apologize for the inconvenience for you and your teams." The scores, which were to account for 16 percent of a second semester SEE SCORES, PAGE A3
SPRING FLING Local teams travel to Murfreesboro to compete in 2014 TSSAA Spring Fling. A17
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Memorial Day...... A Day for Remembering. “Downhome Banking the Way It Should Be”
BMH RECOGNIZES VOLUNTEERS Auxiliary volunteers were recognized by Baptist recently, A7
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