“…Vietnam Veteran Spotlight: We certainly have an interesting veteran this week, readers. He is Michael E. Lewis, who served in the U.S. Air Force, 1972-1976, and during a portion of that time, he was in a military hospital.
“Born and raised in Knoxville, where he also attended school, Michael chose to become a mortician following his military service. He completed the training at the Kentucky College of Mortuary Science and retired from that profession. This past Thursday, a ceremony was held at Crown Cypress Assisted Living, during which he was presented with a war veteran quilt made by John L. Plutchak. This effort is done by a group called Quilts of Valor, who do nothing but hand-make quilts for our veterans.
“Refreshments were served, and various personnel were present. Several years back, his war medals were all destroyed in a fire, and he hasn’t yet gone through the process to replace them. He was a POW, along with U.S. Sen. John S. McCain (R-Ariz), whose time as a POW is well-known and highly publicized. When Michael was in better health, he loved golfing.
“Congratulations on being gifted with a well-deserved military quilt, Michael. We wish you many more pleasant years, and we thank you for your service to our country.”
— entire article by Lee Miller, a rural correspondent for Sullivan County. Readers may contact Lee by emailing her at lmiller@timesnews.net