Givhan to speak at Memorial Day Celebration

Published 2:31 pm Friday, May 27, 2016

A tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice will take place Monday morning in Confederate Park in Greenville.

The Greenville Lions Club is hosting its annual Memorial Day Celebration, with live music kicking off at 10 a.m. in the park. A patriotic program will begin at 10:30 a.m.

The program will include a Walk of Honor, where veterans from around the county will march around the park.

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The keynote speaker will be Maj. Gen. Walter D. Givhan.

Givhan, a native of Safford, Ala., retired in 2014 from the U.S. Air Force. He had served as Vice Commander of Air University in Montgomery, where he oversaw all of the Air Force’s higher education — with the exception of the Air Force Academy — including the Community College of the Air Force, the world’s largest community college system.

He has also served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in charge of U.S. global assistance programs and as Commandant of the Air Force Institute of Technology in Dayton, Ohio, the Air Force’s graduate school of engineering and management as well as its institution for technical professional continuing education.

Givhan received his undergraduate degree from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., and joined the USAF in 1981. He is a command pilot and flight instructor with more than 2,500 flying hours and served in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm and received 15 major awards and decorations for his service. Givhan is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations who also speaks French, German and a dialect of Afghan Farsi called Dari. He is married to Frances Beeland Givhan, of Greenville, Ala., and they have five children: Mary Evelyn, Jane, William, Walter Bratton, and Marion.