Beech Tree News Network

The Green River Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution will present their Veteran of the Year award to Michael Lynn Hudnall.   This award will be presented at the Veteran Reception held at the Morgantown Elementary School Cafeteria immediately after the Veteran’s Parade.

 The Veteran’s Day Parade begins at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow Saturday, November 11th.  Lineup for the parade begins at 1:00 p.m. at the elementary school.

Michael Lynn Hudnall was born in Butler County, Kentucky on July 18, 1948 to Harry and Zora Hudnall.  He graduated from Butler County High School in May of 1966 and married Jane (Sublett) Hudnall August 19, 1966.

Mike joined the United States Air Force in March 1968 and reported to basic training at Lackland Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas.  There he was promoted to airman E2 before leaving basic training qualifying as firing expert in all hand weapons.

After schooling at Shepherd Air Force base in Wichita Falls, Kansas in mid-September 1968, he received orders for Charleston Air Force base in Charleston, South Carolina training on the C-141 with the ocean less than 2 miles away.

Eight months later he received orders for Eglin Air Force Base - Fort Walton Beach, Florida as airman first class E3.

His new orders were for Southeast Asia, 56 combat support, special forces unit.  He made Sergeant E4 the middle of August 1969 and reported for duty at Royal Thai Air Force Base Nakhon Phanom, Thailand, 6 miles from the Laotian border and the Mekong River.

He landed at secret sites all over Vietnam from Pleiku North to the A Shau Valley (also known as the Valley of Death).  His work was top secret, no pictures, no talking about jobs, no nothing.

Bob Hope visited their base at Christmas one year and said their base “was a hot dog stand on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.”

In September of 1970, he made staff sergeant E5 and received orders from McGuire Air Force Base Wrightstown, New Jersey.  Here he was in charge of 31 men (most of them under 19 years of age), and in the fall of 1971 he received orders for Rhein-main Air Base in Frankfurt, Germany in military airlift command. He made Tech sergeant E6 in February of 1972 and on March 19th of 1972, their son Jeremy was born and he went back home to Kentucky.

Mike has such an interesting story and because of his assignment to the special forces unit he could not go into any more detail about his activities. The Green River Chapter is so proud to award this to him for 2023.