On Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 2023, members of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Sons of the American Revolution, and veterans gathered at the courthouse in Williamsburg to commemorate
UK Army/Air Force ROTC honor Elwood Woody Hughes and Franklin Sousley, two veterans with Kentucky ties who served in Iwo Jima.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 25, 2021) This past Tuesday, University of Kentucky Army and Air Force ROTC cadets commemorated the 76th anniversary of the flag raising on Iwo Jima with a flag raising ceremony on the UK campus. The event paid special tribute to two World War II veterans with Kentucky ties: the late Elwood “Woody” Hughes and Franklin Runyon Sousley (1925-1945).
Hughes, who died Feb. 2, 2021, at age 95 in Lexington, had planned to raise a flag this Tuesday at Veterans Park Elementary in Lexington to honor those who lost their lives at Iwo Jima. Shortly after his death, schools across Chicago (where he lived most of his life) and beyond received word of his plan, and over 100 flag raising ceremonies were organized. His son, Bill Hughes, rose the flag at Veterans Park Elementary on his father s behalf.
Tuesday's ceremony paid special tribute to two World War II veterans with Kentucky ties: the late Elwood “Woody” Hughes and Franklin Runyon Sousley.