Purple Heart Foundation Banquet planned for Aug. 3
By Steve Herring
Published in News on July 26, 2018 5:50 AM
Col. Donn C. Yates
Less than 100 tickets remain available for the seventh annual Goldsboro/Wayne Purple Heart Foundation Banquet and Ceremony to be held Friday, Aug. 3, at the Maxwell Center.
A private reception for the honorees will start at 5 p.m. followed by the meal and program at 6 p.m.
Tickets are $25 each, and are available at the Maxwell Center on Wayne Memorial Drive, Wayne County Veterans Services office on East Ash Street and American Legion Post 11 on U.S. 117 South.
Col. Donn C. Yates, commander of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base's 4th Fighter Wing, will be the keynote speaker.
The ceremony, sponsored by the Goldsboro/Wayne Purple Heart Foundation, will pay tribute to 60 Goldsboro/Wayne area Purple Heart recipients, along with their families, and the families of deceased Purple Heart recipients, with special recognition to those killed in action.
The Purple Heart recipients will enter through a walk of honor under raised sabers, where Yates will present gifts to them.
Cadets representing all of Wayne County Public Schools' ROTC programs will participate in that ceremony.
Also remembered will be 19 post-military deceased recipients, who will be represented by their families, said Bill Graham with the Goldsboro/Wayne Purple Heart Foundation.
Gold Star families -- those in which a family member was killed in action or is missing in action -- also will be honored.
The Purple Heart, established by George Washington in 1782 as the Badge of Military Merit, is awarded to those who have been wounded or killed while serving in the U.S. military.
It has been estimated that more than 1.8 million Purple Hearts have been awarded, and in North Carolina, the Military Order of the Purple Heart has more than 2,000 members in 10 chapters.
Its mission is to foster an environment of goodwill and camaraderie among combat wounded veterans, promote patriotism, support necessary legislative initiatives and, most importantly, provide service to all veterans and their families.
Yates was previously stationed at the base in 1999 for F-15E Strike Eagle pilot training. He returned from 2003-2005 as an instructor pilot, mission commander, weapons flight commander, chief of weapons and tactics with the 335th Fighter Squadron then again from 2005-2006 as wing chief of weapons and tactics in 4th Operations Support Squadron From 2012-2013, he served director of operations, 335th Fighter Squadron, and worked as commander, 334th Fighter Squadron from 2013-2015.
He was most recently commander of the 48th Operations Group at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England.