Alvin W. Duncan, the executive director of Kentucky Veterans Services, will be the keynote speaker for a Memorial Day service Monday at Kentucky Veterans Cemetery-West in Hopkinsville. It will begin at 7 a.m.
An Army veteran, Duncan was a combat engineer who served at several installations in the U.S. and overseas in Panama, Germany, Iraq and Korea. He retired in 2006 as a master sergeant with 23 years of service. In his last assignment, he was the senior military instructor for ROTC at the University of Kentucky.
Duncan was the branch manager of Kentucky Veterans Cemetery-North in Williamstown north of Lexington and later became assistant director of the Division of State Veterans Cemeteries in the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs. He was named executive director of Kentucky Veteran Services in April. He resides in Lexington.
The outdoor service will include the presentation of colors by the Veterans of Foreign Wars honor guard. John Brame, commander of VFW Post 1913, will make opening remarks.
The cemetery, at 5817 Fort Campbell Blvd., conducted its 5,000th internment in January. The cemetery was dedicated in November 2003.
Memorial Day, first observed as Decoration Day following the Civil War, is a national holiday honoring U.S. military members who died in service to the country. Veterans Day, on Nov. 11, honors all who served.
Most local, state and federal government offices are closed for Memorial Day. Most banks are also closed.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
