09/13/2026
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, our UAW 685 Veterans Committee, in collaboration with Stellantis Veterans Group and our Kokomo Indiana Transmission, Engine, and Casting Plants, attended our 4th Annual Ruck March in Kokomo. We truly appreciate SVG, Mindi Temple Conaway, and our ITP staff for allowing us the opportunity to play a roll in the planning of this community event and providing all of the manpower and resources to get it set up.
UAW member and volunteer firefighter, Mike Barger, kicked our event off as our Master of Ceremonies. VFW Post 1152 Military Rites Team presented the colors, followed by UAW Retiree and Chaplain, brother Will Price, offering a heartfelt prayer. UAW member, Helen Allen, performed the most beautiful rendition of our National Anthem, followed by Milford C. III Hutsell, with Stellantis Veterans Group, leading us in the pledge of allegiance. We were honored to have Kokomo Fire Chief, Paul Edwards, as our first guest speaker, reminding us of the events on that fateful day as well as the events that unfolded before his arrival to our event, right here in our hometown. Chief Edwards was followed by UAW Veterans Committee member, Tina Bentley Emmons, who shared with us highlights of our UAW's role in wartime efforts and introduced our UAW Veterans Committee Chair, Jeff Emmons, to present our law enforcement officers Dick Toth and Blake York, Chief Edwards, and our first responders in attendance with our UAW 685 Veterans Committee challenge coins. Thank you gentlemen, we were honored to have you with us for this event. Our final guest speaker was one of our beloved Veterans from JSC, Sharlean Melroy. She shared with us how the events of 9/11 ignited a fire within her and led to her enlistment in the US Army, the impact left by her time served, as well as the challenges she faced in her readaption to civilian life. Her courage to publicly tell her story was truly heartwarming as her publicly speaking about her experiences was a great challenge, one that she rose to with that same bravery and courage as the day the 18 year old version of her signed to serve our great nation. We were truly humbled to have these brave men and women, these heroes, stand with us as we remembered the nearly 3000 lives lost on that day, 25 years ago.
A very special thank you to Kevin Lechner and Chariot Automotive Group for always supporting our events, you are a treasure!
We also want to thank UAW 685 Veterans Committee member, Garry Curella, for leading our march with our nations flag, UAW 685 Veterans Committee member, Dyan Noe along with her daughter, a proud US Navy veteran, our beloved Veterans from Jackson Street Commons, UAW 685 President, Denny Butler, UAW 685 Vice President, William Guinan, UAW 1166 Vice President, Warren Sims, UAW 685 Recording & Financial Secretaries, Angela J Boyd and Drake, UAW 1166 Veterans Committee Chair, John Shock, UAW 685 Conservation and Recreation Committee Chair, Eliza Jayne Barkley, and the many others who joined us in solidarity, helping make this event a success.
Tammy Price
