Ft. Polk to celebrate Flag Day with vets

Jasper Nursing and Rehabilitation at 350 Springhill Road will hold a special Flag Day observance June 14, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Troops from Ft. Polk will dine with veterans and other residents at a barbecue lunch provided by Primary Care EMS. Mayor David Barber and Jasper Police Chief Todd Hunter will also attend, according to activities director William Hoffman.

Gillie Dennison, one of the nursing home residents, was with the Army in Africa during World War II, and continued as a pilot in Africa even after the war was over. He eventually came back to work in the shipyards.

James Jordan, another resident, did not serve in the military but was a shipyard welder in Port Arthur during WWII.

"We built tugs to pull barges under a navy contract (during the war.) There was no place to live, nothing you could buy, sugar and gas were rationed, but we did our part for the war," Jordan said.

Groves Houston is also a veteran, but he served in Germany in the early 1960s and also played professional baseball with the Fort Worth Giants.

Dennison spoke for many in the home when he said that his family "is scattered all over the place, and they're so busy. We're looking forward to having the visitors (from Ft. Polk)."

Flag Day commemorates June 14, 1777, when the Second Continental Congress approved the first United States Flag. President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation officially establishing June 14 as Flag Day in 1916.