Medford bridge to honor two fallen soldiers
Jessica Davis gave out these pictures showing her brother, U.S. Army Cpl. Jason D. Hovater, and other soldiers who died on July 13, 2008, in Afghanistan to members of the Anderson County Commission at its April 20 meeting. (photo:Ben Pounds )
The Anderson County Commission unanimously approved the markers at its Monday, April 20, meeting, although Commissioner Sabra Beauchamp was absent. They will be placed along a bridge on U.S. 25 West in Medford.
On the northbound side will stand a sign honoring U.S. Army Sgt. First Class James David Connell Jr., who died in Babil, Iraq, in a small-arms fire ambush on May 12, 2007.
The sign on the southbound side will honor U.S. Army Cpl. Jason D. Hovater. He died in hostile fire on July 13, 2008, in Kunar, Afghanistan.
Hovater’s sister, Jessica Davis, spoke to the Anderson County Commission at its April 20 meeting.
She presented pictures of her brother and other soldiers who died in the same battle, crying as she read their names.
Davis stressed in an interview with The Courier News that Hovater volunteered for the Army during wartime.
“What he did was a sacrifice not just for the brothers that he was out there serving with,” she said.
“It was also for each and every person who is here in the United States and their freedoms.”
She described her brother as a “history maker,” referencing the song “History Makers,” which he liked to perform.
“He believed in it,” she said. “And he was a history-maker.”
Commissioner Tim Isbel said at the April 13 Operations Committee meeting that the idea to honor the soldiers came from Rocky Top Mayor Kerry Templin.
At the County Commission meeting, Commissioner Phil Yager made the motion, and Commissioner Chad McNabb seconded it.
