Col. David Coggins, U.S. Marine Corps Commander of the Navel ROTC at Virginia Military Institute, will be the guest speaker at the annual Memorial Day Observance Monday, May 29 in Buchanan.

Buchanan American Legion Post 93 hosts the 11 a.m. service at in the pavilion at Fairview Cemetery. The public is invited.

Coggins has held a number of command and staff assignments in the United States and with NATO. He served as the Director of the Joint Concept Development and Experimentation Division for the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory and among other posts as Acting Chief of Staff, US Military Training Mission, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during 2013-2015.

Coggins graduated from several military courses and holds a BS with honors in Education from the University of Tennessee. He also has published papers on the Riverine Warfare in Vietnam and Towards a Complimentary Approach to Peace Building and Reconstruction Between the EU and NATO.

He participated in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Provide Mentor. He deployed in support of AMIS, ISAF, and KFOR, and he supported deployed units for Operation Enduring Freedom and and multiple humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations in southeast Asia.

His personal awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, (Second award) , Meritorious Service Medal (Third award), Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medal (Third award), Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal, The Governor’s Outstanding Tennessean Award , The Commandants Superior Achievement Award for officer recruiting, awards from the Japanese government, the DANCON March Medal (Iraq), Knighted Order of the Sauna (Royal Finnish Navy), as well as, the King Abdul Aziz Award (Silver) for significant contributions to the bi-lateral military partnership between the US and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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