Keynote speaker will be Governor Rick Perry.

HOUSTON -
A special Memorial Day Service will be held on Monday, May 31, 2010 at
9:30 a.m. at the Houston VA National Cemetery, located at 10410
Veterans Memorial Drive.

This
year, the Department of Veterans Affairs is pleased to announce
Governor Rick Perry will give the Memorial Day address. A fifth
generation Texan, Perry has taken an extraordinary Texas journey, from
a tenant farm in the rolling West Texas plains to the governor’s office
of our nation’s second largest state. Texas’ 47th governor, and the
first Texas A&M graduate to occupy the Governor’s Mansion, Perry
has led a life of public service, starting in the United States Air
Force and continuing over two decades in elected office. His political
career started in 1985 as a representative for a rural West Texas
district in the state House of Representatives. He was first elected to
statewide office in 1990, and served as Texas Commissioner of
Agriculture for two terms. Perry hails from Paint Creek, a small
farming community north of Abilene. His father served as a Haskell
County Commissioner, school board member, and a World War II tail
gunner. Between 1972 and 1977, Perry served in the United States Air
Force flying C-130 tactical airlift aircraft in the U.S., Europe, and
the Middle East. He first met Anita Thigpen at a piano recital during
their elementary school years. They married in 1982 and are the proud
parents of two grown children – Griffin and Sydney.

In addition to Perry’s
remarks, the event will feature a parade of colors and wreaths by
numerous local veterans’ organizations, ROTC units, and Boy and Girl
Scout troops. All Boy and Girl Scout organizations in southeast Texas
are invited to attend.

There
will also be many symbolic highlights including a flyover by the U.S.
Coast Guard; a performance of Taps; a cannon salute; a riderless horse
procession by the Houston Police Mounted Patrol; Amazing Grace
performed by the Houston Highlander Pipe Band; a white dove release;
and a rifle salute by the VFW District #4 Ceremonial Detail accompanied
by Co. A 13^th
U.S. Regular Infantry with muskets. Medal of Honor recipient David
McNerney will lead the pledge of allegiance with Peggy Slay, president
of the Houston Gold Star Mothers.

The Memorial Day Service, honoring deceased United States servicemen and women, is free and open to the public.

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