WBRY continues its series on the upcoming Veterans Day Parade Grand Marshalls
The Army Grand Marshall is Charles Larry Nixon Larry joined the Army on October 6, 1966, and did his basic training at Fort Knox, Ky. He completed his Advanced Training at Fort Knox. He was assigned as an Assistant Instructor with the Armor School, Fort Knox, until he was deployed to Viet Nam on February 2, 1968, during the TET Offensive. Larry was assigned to the Recon Platoon, 5th/60th Mechanized Infantry, 9th Infantry Division. On the night ofFebruary 16, 1968 they were ambushed. The man on his right was killed along with the two men on his left. He was shot and lost the use of his legs for a couple of days. He spent six weeks in the hospital in-country, and then returned to duty with the Recon Platoon. On April 7th 1968,
Larry was wounded by shrapnel from a mortar during a mortar attack at his base camp at Binh Phouc in the Mekong Delta 35-40 miles south of Saigon.
He left the Army on September 3, 1969 with the rank of Sergeant. He returned to Murfreesboro, Tennessee and attended MTSU. He was a contributor to a book by Lt. Lee Alley, titled, “Back From War A Quest For Life After Death”. The book deals with both the physical and psychological wounds and what we dealt with upon returning home to an ungrateful nation. Sgt. Nixon was awarded the Purple Heart, the Army Commendation Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Viet Nam Campaign Medal, the Viet Nam Service Medal with Four Campaign Stars, and two Overseas Service Bars.
WBRY will broadcast the Veterans Day Program Ceremonies and Parade Friday November 11th and Saturday November 12th
