MEMORIAL DAY 2023 – Retired Lt. Gen. Dennis D. Cavin was the guest speaker at last year’s UT Martin Memorial Day Commemoration Ceremony. The UT Martin ROTC building was renamed in his honor on April 12. This year’s guest speaker is retired Lt. Col. Michael Peeler.
MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin will host its annual Memorial Day
Commemoration Ceremony at 9 a.m. Friday, May 24, at the open area adjacent to the Boling
University Center.
The guest speaker of the ceremony will be retired Lt. Col. Michael Peeler.
Peeler graduated from UT Martin in December 1995 with a bachelor of science degree in
physical education and health and was commissioned into the Army in the field artillery.
He served in South Korea as well as at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and Fort Polk, Louisiana. He
deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and to Afghanistan in support of
Operation Enduring Freedom with the mission of building and training the Afghan Border Police
Force.
Peeler commanded the Bravo Battery of the 1st Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery
Regiment in the 82nd Airborne Division.
He earned a master of science degree in adult, occupational and continuing education at the U.S.
Army Command and Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Peeler served at Fort Campbell as a major in the 3rd Brigade “Rakkasans” in the 101st Airborne
Division (Air Assault) as the senior fire support officer.
Peeler was selected to serve as professor of military science for the U.S. Army Reserve Officer
Training Corps at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina. Upon completing that
assignment, he was assigned as the deputy director and assistant secretary for the United Nations
Command Military Armistice Commission for United States Forces-Korea at Yongsan, South
Korea.
He retired from the Army in November 2015 after nearly 27 years of service.
Currently, Peeler serves as the inaugural chief of police for Dyersburg State Community College
and area Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology, which consists of nine campuses across
northwest Tennessee.
Lt. Col. Bernard House, professor of military science, said the observance of Memorial Day is
important to honor those who gave their lives for their nation.
“We give honor to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country, he said. “It is important
to honor them and also to honor their families, who also made sacrifices for their service.”
The ceremony is open to the public.