Veterans Day Celebration
America’s Freedom Festival is pleased to partner with the Provo City Veterans Council to sponsor the 2010 Veterans Day Celebration on Thursday, Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. Held at the Covey Center for the Arts in downtown Provo, the celebration will feature former Miss America Sharlene Wells Hawkes as the keynote speaker. World War II veteran and trumpet player Jack Tuellerwill also be honored.
Hawkes was crowned Miss America at the 58th annual Miss America pageant in 1984. Originally from Paraguay, she became the first foreign-born and bilingual Miss America in the pageant’s history. She spent her early years in Mexico, Ecuador, Chile and Argentina.
“My dad was in the [U.S.] Navy, and I have four uncles who, between the four of them, served 94 years in the Air Force,” said Hawkes in an interview with The Washington Times in 2009. “Two of them were shot down during World War II and one of them was a POW. I have been to enough memorial services and spent time with enough wounded warriors to fully absorb the cost of their service, and when someone is filled with enough gratitude, it turns into a passion.”
A former ESPN sportscaster, Hawkes is currently the chief marketing officer at StoryRock Inc., a digital archiving and scrapbooking company. She has been heavily involved with its military division, Remember My Service.
Jack Tueller, known for his heroic service as a fighter pilot and musician during World War II, will be honored by Provo City Mayor John Curtis. Tueller will perform two numbers at the ceremony with his trumpet, including the 1930s German ballad ‘Lilly Marlene,’ which he famously played near Omaha Beach two weeks after D-Day to distract a fierce German sniper.
“Jack’s story is one of the most memorable from the Second World War,” said Paul Warner, Executive Director of America’s Freedom Festival. “During a time of terrible danger and intense fighting, Jack used his beautiful trumpet skills to captivate one lone German sniper, who was later caught and admitted to being too sidetracked by Jack’s music to concentrate on killing American troops. It really is a miraculous account.”
The Veterans Day Celebration will also include the Posting of Colors by the Provo Police Department and the Pledge of Allegiance by a recent Eagle Scout. Following the program, a light, complimentary lunch will be provided by Marvelous Catering in the Provo City Center at 351 W. Center Street.
