South Alabama Regional Airport to hold Remembrance Vigil on Sunday, March 15, 2015 at 2:00 P.M. at the Airport Main Entrance on HWY. 84. in Sanford, AL.

South Alabama Regional Airport (SARA) will hold a remembrance vigil for the 11 military service members aboard a UH-60 Army Blackhawk that crashed in Navarre, Fla., on Tuesday.

The vigil is set for 2 p.m. on Sun., March 15, at the airport’s main entrance on Hwy. 84 near the helicopter.

SARA will have staff available to assist with parking and transporting from the parking lot to the event site.

“Our country and community are with very heavy hearts right now during this tragic time,” co-executive director Jed Blackwell said. “These soldiers were men of courage and honor. They were husbands, fathers, sons, grandsons, and friends. Our very heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the service members involved in this tragedy.”

The South Alabama Regional Airport provides refueling services to all governmental aircraft. One of the most common types of aircraft to utilize our local airport is the UH-60 Blackhawk.

“The odds are very high that this particular aircraft and possibly these soldiers have visited our facility here in Covington County before,” Blackwell said “Please join us in honoring their lives and their sacrifice to our country.”

 

The ceremony will include:

• Opening remarks — Jed Blackwell (SARA)

• Poem (Military Soldier) — Miss Callen Woodard

• Prayer — Dr. Fred Karthaus (Sr. Pastor, First Baptist Church Andalusia)

• Act of Remembrance — John Givhan (Retired, U.S. Army Veteran)

• Prayer — Bro. Gary Miller (Sr. Pastor, Westview Baptist Church, Opp)

• Song — “God Bless The U.S.A.” — Mr. Taylor Weeks (Opp)

• Act of Remembrance — Clyde Northrop (Retired, U.S. Army)

• “God Bless America” — Miss Lorren Shaffer (Andalusia)

• Laying of Wreath — Local National Guard Soldiers / Local Veterans

• “Taps”

• Prayer — Bro. Greg Cotter (Sr. Pastor, Harmony Baptist Church Andalusia)

• National Anthem (Trumpet) — performed by Mr. Johnny Brewer (Instructor, LBWCC)