Monroe County Mayor Mitch Ingram and his cabinet share a moment of congratulations with Veterans Service Officer Andy Boyd, center. Boyd was presented on Monday with a Joseph “JL” Tucker Memorial Award in appreciation of his accomplishments with Vet to Vet Tennessee, Monroe County Veterans Court, and a commitment to helping Veterans overcome adversity.
Monroe County Veterans Services takes the center court on Monday, Officer Andy Boyd showed appreciation for his continued energy supporting Veterans Court and Vet to Vet Tennessee, a statewide peer support and suicide prevention organization.
Vet to Vet Tennessee president Ed Junod presented Boyd with a Joseph “JL” Tucker Memorial Award, one of the group’s highest distinctions named after a man central to its founding. Junod described Tucker as a Veteran who suffered over 40 years from his involvement in the Battle of Ia Drang. Tucker, an Army supply clerk, volunteered during the United States’ first major engagement in Vietnam, dragging injured soldiers and corpses from the battlefield for 23 hours, and clearing fluids on the helicopters to evacuate the dead and wounded.
After the turn of the century, Tucker found God, Junod said, joined Vet to Vet Tennessee, and as a volunteer endeavored to rehabilitate distressed Veterans.
“There are very few like him,” Junod said. “On his deathbed, he was praying for a justice-involved Veteran.”
Judge Dwaine Thomas, overseeing a Veterans Court commencement, described Boyd as someone who “was really there for Veterans.”
“Andy is well deserved of this award.” He said, adding praise for Boyd’s work through the county office and his appointment by Mayor Mitch Ingram.
