Wants to create wall of honor

At least for a few hours next month the walls of the county courthouse will pay special tribute to those who have served their country.

On Thursday, Nov. 10, right after the regular county commission meeting, Hospice of Huntington will sponsor a program honoring veterans.

“November is National Hospice Month and we try to do a number of outreach programs,” Shelly Betz, director of marketing for the Huntington, W.Va., organization, said.

However, this hospice program is taking a page from a recent community project in neighboring Wayne County, W.Va., where photographs of veterans were collected for a wall of remembrance.

“The people in the community wanted to create this Wall of Honor in the courthouse in Wayne,” Betz said. “You had people in the community who were so passionate about their veterans. We invited the community to submit photos of loved ones who were veterans or on active duty. One group of pictures had four generations.”

A service inaugurating the wall was held in July.

So for the November event, Betz would like to create a similar wall where photographs will be displayed on the second floor of the courthouse to be viewed by those attending the event.

“It is more of a tribute for veterans,” she said. “The idea is to just honor those who have served our country. Me personally, I don’t think veterans get enough recognition. They deserve this time of appreciation. If I see a veteran in a restaurant, I will go over to say thank you for your service.”

Hospice of Huntington has in place a series of veteran-specific programs including health care for the unique medical conditions often affecting those who have served in the military.

Currently the organization provides end of life care for 181 patients in its service area. Of that number 32 are veterans.

Betz is asking that copies of photographs, not originals, be brought to Tami Meade, commission administrator, between now and the day before the service. Right now the plan is for the wall only to be up on that day.

“I would like to see what I saw in Wayne County spread across the country,” Betz said. “After we did the reception in July, I don’t know how many more pictures they got. They had more people coming from the community coming into the courthouse to look at the wall.”