Wade Hampton High School and the Air Force Junior ROTC Department honored veterans during a Veteran’s Day Ceremony November 10, 2010.

Brigadier General Lawrence W. Brock, a member of the Wade Hampton High School Class of 1976, currently serving in Afghanistan and home on R&R was the Wade Hampton High School Veteran Honoree for 2009. He introduced Colonel Francis M. “Mike” Belue, Chaplain U. S. Army (Retired) the 2010 Honoree.

Col. Belue served two tours as an enlisted man in Vietnam. After the war, he attended college and seminary and was commissioned as an Army Chaplain. Prior to his recent retirement, he served as a combat Army Chaplain in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Introducing Col. Belue, Gen. Brock said: “We believe that the service of this individual will serve as a testimony to all future Wade Hampton graduates that hard work; dedication and service to others are truly pillars of our society.”

The plaque to be placed on the Wall of Honor was presented to Col. Belue by Mr. Radford, Wade Hampton High School Principal.

Addressing students and guests, Col. Belue said he graduated from the school 46 years ago. “For those of you who can’t quite grasp that, that was last century. I found that the values and things that I learned here stayed with me in the life that I would see in my career and my future.

“I left Wade Hampton and went into the military and did a tour in Vietnam. And by the grace of God came home. I was called to go back to Vietnam during the Tet Offensive of 1968. I went into the Ancient City of Hue that had been taken over completely by the North Vietnamese Army. We had the mission of clearing the villages around the city. After about 3 months, they sent me back into the city for a few days of rest. I remember distinctly on a beautiful afternoon on a bombed out railroad bridge looking over the city of Hue. I was there with a South Vietnamese captain who was telling me about the Vietnamese culture and the history of the ancient city. I said, ‘Look at it now. The city is devastated.’ I asked him why he was fighting this war? And he said something that will stay with me the rest of my life. He said, ‘All I want is the right to vote. In America you can vote for whoever you want to and you have freedom that we don’t have here.’ I was 20 years old at the time and I had never thought much about it – especially the right to vote.

“A few weeks later, he was killed in a fire fight. Of course, he never had an opportunity to experience that. You have that opportunity and all of us often take these opportunities and our freedom for granted. But remember what we have here in America was purchased at a great, great price, and the freedom that we have every day was purchased with the blood of our veterans around the world.”

Col. Belue concluded by addressing the students directly.” I’m proud to be a graduate of Wade Hampton High School. You students hang in there and 46 years from now you could be right here.”

Photographs of Wade Hampton Graduate Veteran Honorees are displayed on the Wall of Honor in the Air Force Junior ROTC section of the school.

Colonel Ben Pittman, Senior military instructor at the school presented an award to Rev. Dwight Clark who participated in a daring rescue of American civilian prisoners from a Japanese Prisoner of War camp during World War II. The rescue was accomplished with no casualties of prisoners or US military personnel.

Col. Pittman also presented an award to Assistant Principal Terry Carnes, a Vietnam War veteran who served in the United States Navy.