KUSTOFF, BANKS TO SPEAK May 27 AT MEMORIAL DAY COMMEMORATION
MARTIN, Tennessee – The University of Tennessee at Martin’s annual Memorial Day
Commemoration Ceremony is set for 9 a.m., Friday, May 27, in the north plaza between the
Boling University Center and the Paul Meek Library on the university’s main campus. The event
is open to the public and will also be livestreamed at www.facebook.com/utmartin and
www.youtube/utmartin. U.S. Rep. David Kustoff (R-TN 8 th District) will be among those
attending and will offer comments, and Col. Michael Banks, of Brownsville, a judge advocate
general for the Tennessee Army National Guard, will be the guest speaker.
Kustoff is serving his third term in the U.S. House of Representatives. The University of
Memphis and University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law graduate is a member
of the House Financial Services Committee and serves on two subcommittees: Consumer
Protection and Financial Institutions and Oversight and Investigations. Banks has served in the
Tennessee National Guard since January 2003, is the Haywood County Community Hospital
CEO, and was appointed in November 2021to the Megasite Authority of West Tennessee, which
will oversee Ford Motor Company’s Blue Oval City assembly plant. He holds a bachelor’s
degree from UT Knoxville, a law degree from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys
School of Law, and a master’s degree from the U.S. Army War College. He is a UT Martin
WestStar Leadership Program graduate.
In addition to the speakers, the program will include presentation of the colors by the UT
Martin Army ROTC Skyhawk Battalion; the national anthem sung by UT Martin student
Kimberly Gordon, of Brooksville, Mississippi; the invocation and benediction by Chaplin Debra
McGuire, U.S. Navy (ret.); and a 21-gun salute presented jointly by the UT Martin Department
of Public Safety and the Martin Police Department. Taps will be played by UT Martin students
James McGregor, of Martin, and Brayden Campbell, of Huntingdon.
Memorial Day is observed annually on the last Monday in May and serves to honor those
who have died in service to the United State of America. The observance was originally named
Decoration Day in 1868, changed to Memorial Day in 1882 and declared a national holiday in
1971.
In case of inclement weather, the program will be moved to Watkins Auditorium located
inside the Boling University Center. For more information, contact the Office of University
Relations at 731-881-7615.
