ALBANY, GA - May 27, 2015 - Albany Technical College will hold their third annual Memorial Day ceremony on Thursday, May 28, 2015, at 2pm in the George Kirkland Conference Center. Keynote speaker for this year’s ceremony will be Michael Eric Hooper of Moore, Clarke, Duvall and Rodgers, PC of Albany.
Michael Eric Hooper comes from a more current era and saw combat that many of us experienced only in television broadcasts. Serving as an attorney with Moore, Clarke, Duvall and Rodgers of Albany, his expertise lies in taxation, trusts and estate planning, corporate law, partnership law, probate and the administration of estates and trusts, including the preparation and filing of federal estate and gift tax returns.
A graduate of Westover High School, Hooper accepted an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 2000. He served as a combat infantry officer in Kosovo, Iraq and Korea. Among his medals and commendations are the Bronze Star and the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, having served from 2000 to 2006. He received his Juris Doctor from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University in 2009 and his L.L.M. in Taxation from the Levin College of Law at the University of Florida in 2010.
A member of the Dougherty Circuit Bar Association, the State Bar of Georgia, and the American Bar Association, Hooper serves on the Board of Directors of the United Way of Southwest Georgia and the Boy Scouts’ Chehaw District Committee. He is also a member of the Dougherty County Rotary Club, the American Legion, and is a Lifetime Member of the Seventh Infantry Regiment Association. He and his family reside in Cordele, where he served as a member of the Cordele Historic Preservation Commission and as an active member of Christ Episcopal Church.
The ceremony will begin with a welcome from Albany Tech’s President, Dr. Anthony O. Parker, followed by the presentation of colors by the Young Marines of the Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany and the National Anthem, performed by Beverly Grimsley, Admissions Assistant at Albany Tech.
After the invocation provided by Dr. Steve Eidson, Associate Dean in the Center for Business Solutions at Albany Tech, there will be a Flag Folding ceremony given by Major Lawrence DesJardines, Detachment #1260, Marine Corps League.
Albany Tech began the tradition in 2013 of holding both a Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day Ceremony on the campus on the Thursday following the Monday holiday to commemorate our veterans and allow our students, faculty, staff, and the community to recognize and honor those who fought for our country.
