Veterans Day Ceremony
Monday, November 11 at 11:00 am
Join our community at the Veterans Memorial (next to City Hall) for a Veterans Day Ceremony on Monday, November 11 at 11:00 am. This event is organized by The Smyrna Veterans Committee.
This year’s speaker is retired. USAF Major General George Harrison. He started as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1962. He flew 530 hours of combat missions in Vietnam/Southeast Asia and logged 4,900 hours of total flight time. He flew various aircrafts such as the 0-1F as a pilot and forward air controller, F-4 Phantom II as a fighter pilot, and an F - 16, AT – 38, EC – 135, E – 3, E – 8C, etc. He earned eight major decorations including the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Metal with 11 oak cluster s.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the US Air Force Academy and an MBA from Wharton. While in the USAF, he was posted to several US states, Vietnam and West Germany; and was promoted seven times, making Major General in 1989. From 1993 to 1997, he was Commander, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center. In this capacity, he had a staff of 900 and directed over 300 major testing programs at 20 different locations. These programs supported aircraft such as the B – IB Lancer, B – 2A Spirit, F – 22 Raptor, and an F – 15E Strike Eagle. Harrison retired from the USAF in 1997 and went on to become a Principal Research Engineer at the prestigious Georgia Tech Research Institute.
