The Kentucky National Guard will hold its annual Memorial Day observance at the Kentucky National Guard Memorial in Frankfort.

Five names will be added to the Memorial that honors Kentucky National Guard men and women who died in the line of duty, bringing the total number of names on the Memorial to 291 soldiers and airmen since 1912.  Of the new names being added, 1 died in 1919 following federal service on the southwest border, one in 1937 following state active duty in Louisville during the great flood of 1937, and 3 others died during WWII.

Those names being added are:

 ·  Pvt. John W. Hoge, 26 of Louisville, Jefferson County, died of service-connected disabilities in Louisville on Apr. 1, 1919.  Hoge enlisted in L Company, 2nd Kentucky Infantry Regiment on Feb. 16, 1914, then reenlisted on Jun. 20, 1916, when the state troops were called out for border duty.  It was during this duty he sustained an attack of acute Bright’s disease, a virus from which he never recovered.  This federal mission was the first major deployment of the newly formed Kentucky National Guard and came in June 1916 with the mobilization of the 2nd and 3rd Kentucky Infantry Regiments to the southwest border to defend the homeland.  These Kentucky units and soldiers participated in Brig. Gen. John J. Pershing’s Punitive Expedition to capture or kill Poncho Villa and disburse his army of bandit revolutionaries that had attacked U.S. towns and a U.S. military garrison earlier that year.  Five other Kentucky National Guard soldiers died during this deployment.  Hoge is buried in the Frankfort Cemetery, Frankfort, KY.

 ·  Pvt. Bernard J. Berghaus, 20, of Louisville, Jefferson County, died of pneumonia on Feb. 11, 1937, in the Louisville City Hospital following an illness he contracted while serving on state active duty in Louisville during the great flood of the Ohio river in 1937.  Damage stretched from Pittsburgh to Cairo, Illinois and resulted in the death of 385 people.  One million people were left homeless and property losses reached $500 million.  Private Berghaus was a member of Battery C, 138th Field Artillery at the time of his death and is buried in the St. Michael Cemetery, Louisville, KY.

 ·  Cpl. Lloyd J. George, 23, of Myers, Nicholas County, was killed in action on Jan. 30, 1943, during the Allied invasion of northwestern Africa.  George enlisted in the Kentucky Army National Guard’s, Howitzer Company, 149th Infantry, Carlisle, KY in February 1935.  Following multiple reenlistments and breaks in service, George reenlisted on Jun. 11, 1940, with the recently redesignated Troop A, 122nd Quartermaster Squadron at Carlisle, KY later redesignated as Headquarters Battery, 103rd Separate Coast Artillery Battalion.  The 103rd was inducted into federal service on Feb. 24, 1941, and following a year of mobilization training, arrived in north Africa on Dec. 8, 1942, and was assigned to the 34th Coast Artillery Brigade (Anti-Aircraft).  In January 1947, the Carlisle Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 8666 was named in his honor as he was the first Nicholas County soldier killed in action in WWII.  Initially buried in Tebessa U. S. Cemetery, in northeastern Algeria, George’s body was returned to Kentucky in June 1948, for burial with full military honors in the Carlisle Cemetery.

 ·  Capt. Cecil D. Butler, 34, of Russell, Greenup County, was killed in the line of duty on Dec. 17, 1944, while serving overseas during the opening days of the Ardennes Offensive, also known as the Battle of the Bulge.  Butler enlisted in the Kentucky National Guard’s 126th Wagon Company, 38th Division, in Ashland in May 1928.  He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant on Aug. 15, 1939, then promoted to 1st Lt. on May 29, 1941.  Butler was posthumously promoted to Captain upon his death and was the recipient of the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart Medal.  Capt. Butler was a member of F Company, 2nd Battalion, 345th Infantry Regiment, 173rd Infantry Brigade, 87th Infantry Division at the time of his death and is buried in the Lorraine American Cemetery, France.

 ·  Lt. Col. Joseph M. Kelly, 51, of Hopkinsville, Christian County, and former Assistant Adjutant General of Kentucky, died in an Army hospital in Brisbane, Australia, on Oct. 1, 1944, from fever contracted in the South Pacific while serving on federal active duty.  Kelly was a distinguished career military officer having served his first enlistment oversees in the Navy during WWI and then enlisting in the Kentucky National Guard in 1922.  In August 1943, Kelly was nominated by three members of Kentucky’s congressional delegation to be the next Chief of the National Guard Bureau.  Lt. Col. Kelly was serving as Commander of the 15th Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) Group, Coast Artillery Corps (CAC) at the time of his death.  Lt. Col. Kelly is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA.

Each year the event conducted by the organizers of the Memorial Day ceremony highlight not only the service and sacrifices of all U.S. servicemembers who have perished during military service, but emphasizes a special group or event associated with the Kentucky Nation Guard that resulted in its members dying in the line of duty. 

This year’s Memorial Day ceremony will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War.  In March 2003 the United States-led coalition launched a campaign to end the dictatorial rule of Saddam Hussain.  The U.S. military formally declared the end of the Iraq war on December 15, 2011.  In those eight years, the war would take the lives of 4,418 service men and women and wound 31,994.  Fourteen Kentucky National Guardsmen are among those who were killed in action or died in the line of duty. 

These tragic events highlight the risks our citizen soldiers and airman face while serving our communities in times of natural disasters and overseas during times of war.

The Kentucky National Guard Memorial is located at the entrance to Boone National Guard Center off the West Plaza Connector and next to Capital City Airport in Frankfort.

The event is free and open to the public.  Parking is located nearby.