Horn Lake honors veterans, Bibbee highlights unity and peace

HORN LAKE, Miss. — The ultimate goal of a service member is peace, and the bond between those in uniform transcends any single branch, Army Reserve Lt. Col. Shannon Bibbee told a Horn Lake crowd gathered Tuesday for a Veterans Day ceremony.

Bibbee, a veteran with 27 years in uniform, delivered a keynote address that highlighted the shared sacrifice of the armed forces and the nation’s ongoing obligation to those who have served.

“You will never find anybody that desires peace more than a service member of the United States military,” Bibbee said, after describing the military’s readiness to “crush our enemies.”

He vividly illustrated the bond among branches by recounting his time as a young lieutenant running convoys in Iraq. He described the “no better sound” than that of Navy F-18s arriving as air support when his Army unit was in trouble.

“Nobody cares what uniform you’re in, right?” Bibbee said. “That’s the bond that forms our military.”

The Winn and Annie Ruth Brown Veterans Appreciation Breakfast and Program event, hosted by Horn Lake Mayor Jimmy Stokes and the Board of Aldermen, brought together veterans, public officials, and community members to honor military service.

Bibbee reminded the audience that Veterans Day originated as Armistice Day, marking the end of World War I on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. It was officially renamed Veterans Day by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954 to honor veterans of all U.S. wars.

Service, Sacrifice, and the Home Front

During his speech, Bibbee touched on the core components of military life and the community’s role in supporting its service members.

• Local Sacrifice: He paid tribute to Horn Lake’s own veterans, including 101-year-old World War II veteran Olin Pickens and Lt. Matt Stovall, a Horn Lake native killed by a roadside bomb in Mosul, Iraq, in 2004.
• Honoring Families: Bibbee recognized the “quiet strength” of military spouses and the vital role families play, noting his own father-in-law, an Air Force Vietnam veteran, was in attendance.
• The Purpose of Training: He described military basic training as a process of “humbling you to get over yourself” in order to “as a team, building you back up,” forging trust and character.
• A National Obligation: He stressed the nation’s duty to support its 16 million veterans through job training, transition assistance, and programs to end veteran homelessness.
• A Call to Action: Bibbee urged the community to encourage young people to serve, citing the “extraordinary” heroism of ordinary citizens like Medal of Honor recipient Jack Lumis, who as a 17-year-old Marine on Iwo Jima shielded his comrades from grenades.

Stokes concluded the event by reinforcing the city’s commitment to its veterans.

“We owe it to our veterans,” Stokes said. “When they come home, they don’t have to look at war… We owe it to them that we provide peace and a sanctuary for them to live and be loved.”