Maj. Tyner Apt-Hill, who went from the halls of Iola High School to the U.S. Air Force Academy, will deliver the keynote address during Saturday’s Veterans Day ceremony in downtown Iola.
Apt-Hill, currently a student at Command and General Staff Officer College at Fort Leavenworth, earned her commission from the Academy in May 2010, where she earned the rank of Second Lieutenant.
Since then, she’s spent the entirety of her active duty as a logistics readiness officer, and was promoted to First Lieutenant in May 2012, Captain in May 2014 and Major in January 2020.
She returned to General Staff Officer College in June, following a two-year stint as operations officer for the 6th Logistics Readiness Squadron at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.
She also had various management positions at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, Moody Air Force Base in Georgia and Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma.
She is the daughter of Chuck and Mary Apt.
Apt-Hill will speak at 11 a.m. in the Veterans Memorial Garden, just north of the Allen County Veterans Wall.
Afterward, the Iola Elks will serve a meatloaf dinner from 11:30 to 1:30 p.m. at the Elks Lodge, 110 S. Jefferson Ave.
In a departure from years past, there will be no Veterans Day parade following the keynote address.
Tom Nevans, one of the organizers, said the small Veterans Day Committee size, and smaller number of participants, prompted the Committee to forego the parade this year.
There was no celebration held in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
THE VETERANS Day Committee will host a special dinner for veterans at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 11, at The Warehouse, 612 W. Miller Rd.
A catered meal by Simply Delicious and served by Allen Community College will feature a choice of bacon-wrapped pork filets, grilled chicken breast or vegetable lasagna to veterans and their families.
Live musical entertainment will be a part of the festivities, and a professional photographer will be on hand to take pictures of the guests.
The meal is free, but seating is limited to the first 50 veterans, each of whom is allowed to bring one guest.
