The Tennessee Secretary of State has created an ingenious way to encourage Tennesseans to vote, while giving them the opportunity to pay tribute to current and former members of the military as they cast their ballot.
The program, called Tennessee Honor Vote, allows Tennesseans who pledge to vote on Nov. 6 the opportunity to post the name of a current or former member of the military on a state website and declare that they will be voting in honor of that service member.
In an interview with the state political news website TNReport, Secretary of State Tre Hargett said the Tennessee Honor Vote website is "a great way to honor those men and women who have fought so hard to preserve the freedoms that allow us the right to vote."
We couldn't agree more.
One of the best features of the website, which is available at www.GoVote TN.com/honor, is an area where voters paying tribute to service members can share the highlights of the honoree's service.
For example, Charlotte Denise Cagle, of Dunlap, honored Avery Paul Cagle, an Army private during World War II. She shared that Mr. Cagle "was wounded on December 13, 1943 behind German lines. He was sent there to help start the Battle of the Bulge before the enemy was ready to start it. He told us that their mission was to start the fighting before the Germans were prepared to start." For his valor, Cagle received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.
Chattanooga voter Jerry Ann Tollett recalls the heroism of Oliver Bess who also fought in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was captured and became one of only 11 prisoners who lived through the ordeal
Reva M. Pruett, of Soddy-Daisy, posted the name of George Albert Cregger to the Tennessee Honor Vote website. Cregger served in the Army during the Korean War.
Athens resident Barbara Joyce Mayer reminds us of the service of Robert Volk Mayer. He entered the Navy on the day he graduated high school and would go on to serve in Korea and Vietnam. He later served as a pilot during the "Mercy Mission to McMurdo," an effort that helped save the lives of a number of scientists and technicians in Antarctica. After the mission, a mountain in Antarctica -- "Mayer's Crag" -- was named in his honor.
Sherry Taylor May of Ooltewah pledged to vote in honor of James R. May, who was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service in Vietnam before serving four years with the Central Intelligence Agency and seven years with the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Gulf War veteran Maurice John Johnson III earned a Bronze Star for his heroism in Iraq. The Army officer is celebrated on the website by Linda L. Johnson of Hixson.
The names honored on the Tennessee Honor Vote website include veterans from every major American conflict since World War I, as well as a number of men and women still serving today.
One such current hero is Gregory Cookston, a first sergeant in the National Guard, who is serving in Kuwait. He is honored by Whitwell resident Georgia Ray Cookston.
The website has been in operation for less than two weeks, but the Tennessee Honor Vote program has already proven a great success. As of Friday, more than 2,500 current and former service members have been honored on the Tennessee Honor Vote website.
If you plan to vote and want to share the name and story of a family member, friend or loved one who served, or is still serving, in the military, please do so at the Tennessee Honor Vote website.
But the website isn't just for celebrating a hero you know, it's also for discovering and honoring the sacrifices of those you don't. Visiting the website is a valuable way to remember the men and women who have given so much of themselves for our country.
By celebrating Tennessee's heroes, Secretary of State Hargett has begun a great tradition that deserves to live on for election years to come.