Petals for Patriots Remember Mississippi's War Dead

Rose petals rain over the Pontotoc airport in remembrance of Mississippi's fallen soldiers. (Photo by Haley Holley)

Once a year, a vintage aircraft drops gallons of rose petals from the sky to remind the living that their dead soldiers aren’t forgotten. MPB’s Sandra Knispel files this report from Pontotoc’s Petals for Patriots.

Rose petals in hues of pink, red, white, yellow and orange rain from a 1951 Cessna 195 over the Pontotoc County Airport… filling the gray, overcast sky – if just for a fleeting moment – with bright color. Roughly 250 family members of some of the 64 Mississippi men and one woman who died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan watch as the petals fall onto the tarmac. Many parents weep quietly.

One of the organizers, Don McKibben, a Vietnam vet, says this annual event is part of an attempt to ensure today’s soldiers receive recognition from the public, unlike he and his peers did in the 1970s. At that time, public opinion had shifted dramatically and anti-war demonstrators were spitting on the returning soldiers.

“Many of us that came back from Vietnam – you know we said never again. We want the families to know who have lost members serving their country that we appreciate it and we recognize that the freedoms that we enjoy today we would not have without those that were willing to make that ultimate sacrifice for our country,” says McKibben, who is now a member of the Patriotic Guard Riders.

Here in northeast Mississippi, military service is often a family tradition, deeply entwined with religion and conservative values, like in many other places in the state. What sets this county apart is its sad record:

“Since Pontotoc County is the only county in the state that has lost four soldiers to Iraq and Afghanistan we wanted to find a way that we can honor those families and let them know we appreciate their family’s service," McKibben explains.

One of those families honored is Jean Alice and Robert McDavid of Starkville, parents of Taylor McDavid. The 29-year old was killed last year by a suicide bomber after he and four other soldiers had just gotten out of a humvee to begin a foot patrol in a Sunni neighborhood of Baghdad.

“I know that there will be other moms that will go through the same thing that I had to go through. But I also feel that if we weren’t there then they would be here. It would be awful. I mean awful," says Jean Alice McDavid.

When asked if she thought her son died in vain, considering the ongoing turmoil in Iraq, Ms McDavid replied: “No. No. I don’t.”

But fellow Gold Star Mother Pam Presley Cousar from New Albany admits she asked herself that question after her 21-year-old son Brandon Presley was fatally wounded in Iraq in 2006.

“Yes, I do ask myself that, I do. But he believed in what he was doing. And I think maybe even though – maybe some of the older ones -- Iraqis you’re probably not going to be able to change them. But I think the kids are gonna see what we are doing over there and I think hopefully it’ll help them change, maybe in the future.”

Also at the airport hangar is a young married couple, Ashley and Christopher Cox. The 22-year-old husband will deploy to Iraq in July for a 13-month tour of duty, his second in two years. Apart from strong patriotism, economic reality also played a role in the couple’s decision.

“Times are hard here, you know. We want a good start for our lives. And the military can provide a lot of good things,” says Ashley Cox. “Money! [she laughs]. This will open up some doors for us. Hopefully help us get out of debt and stuff like that.”

Meanwhile standing on the tarmac, clutching some of the dropped rose petals, Donna Bagwell, grows pensive when asked if time has come to bring the troops home. She started the Forever Faithful Mississippi chapter of the Gold Star Mothers after her 24-year-old son Lucas Tucker was killed in Iraq in 2005.

"Since we have talked about pulling out it seems like activity has picked up a little bit over in Iraq and the activity is definitely picking up in Afghanistan. So, I think we need to be there for a while longer and probably Iraq too. I don’t think it’s time to bring them home yet.”

Next year, Bagwell and other parents will be back for the annual Petal for Patriots drop, hoping there won’t be any new members to their group.