MEMPHIS, Tenn. — If you ever spent any time in the Armed Forces, you’ve heard it before.
Adapt. Improvise. Overcome.
It has been put to use in an unusual way.
Traditionally, Veterans Day Services are held at the West Tennessee Veterans Cemetery. A few hundred people jam next to each other to hear speeches and prayers and patriotic music.
Not this year - thanks to COVID-19.
Tennessee Veterans Services Commissioner Patrick Rice said, “Unfortunately, the Veterans Day event our support group puts on - they decided, just out of an abundance of caution, to not have it this year.”
Even in a pandemic, that decision might not go over well with some.
Rice said, “We have one of the largest veterans’ populations in the state here in the Shelby County region.”
Now go back to those three words. Adapt. Improvise. Overcome. Organizers did. At 7:00 p.m. on Veterans Day evening, a service honoring them will be held. It will be held at the Malco Drive-In Theater on Summer in Memphis.
Rice said, “That way, folks can attend as a family. Drive up in their car, watch it all on the big screen. They’ll have concessions and things like that, so they can celebrate as a community.”