The Henderson Veterans Memorial Foundation annual Memorial Day Celebration will feature veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom, Maj. Josh S. Pitcher.
The celebration will be 10 a.m., Monday, May 25, in Central Park.
It is the 79th annual community Memorial Day celebration, and according to a release from the foundation, more than 6,000 crosses to honor deceased veterans from Henderson County will be placed in the park this year.
Pitcher, now Aide-de-Camp, Office of the Adjutant General Kentucky National Guard, previously served as a Platoon Leader for the Commander’s Personal Security Detail for HHC 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 4th Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 82nd Airborne Division, according to a bio sent by the foundation.
He deployed to southern Afghanistan in the Kandahar Province in January 2012 and participated in Operation Enduring Freedom as a platoon leader in Delta Company, 2-508. While on a dismounted combat patrol during a major clearance operation of a Taliban command and control compound, Pitcher becoming wounded by an improvised explosive device.
Pitcher subsequently underwent thirteen months of intense rehabilitation at Walter Reed Military Medical Center before rejoining the 4th BCT in May 2013.
In November 2013, Pitcher redeployed with Bravo Company, 2-508 PIR to Afghanistan’s Regional Command-North in Balkh Province.
Pitcher represented the U.S. Army at the 2014 NATO Summit and was one of four Army Infantry Officers selected to attend the rigorous United States Marine Corps Expeditionary Warfare School where he graduated with honors on the Commandant’s Roll.
According to the foundation, its mission is to foster patriotism, support armed forces, honor and support military veterans and their families and help ensure that all those who have served and sacrificed in the nation’s military services so that the rest of us may live in liberty are not forgotten. The foundation’s motto is “Never Forget.”
