History of Kentucky Veterans Hall of Fame
The KY Veterans Hall of Fame Foundation was established in January of 2010, since such a foundation did not exist in the Commonwealth. In the Spring of 2012, a proposed bill submitted to the Kentucky Senate was passed unanimously. We now have the support of veterans organizations and the KY Department of Veterans Affairs. Our 501(c)3 was established in 2014.
The inaugural induction was held at the Capital Plaza Hotel in Frankfort in 2014, when 20 Kentucky veterans, 3 deceased, and 4 living Medal of Honor recipients were honored. Heather French, Miss America 2000, and Secretary of State Allison Grimes were a vital part of those ceremonies. Northern Kentucky's Gary Griesser has been the emcee for all our ceremonies.
After one year, we moved the next 3 inductions to the Convention Center in Frankfort because of increased numbers. Each two-day event included a gala dinner and a formal induction ceremony.
To date, the KY Veterans Hall of Fame has inducted more than 200 worthy veterans who continue to volunteer tirelessly throughout the state and our nation. This year we will add many more.
When the Frankfort Convention Center was demolished in 2017, we moved our annual ceremonies to the Embassy Suites, Lexington, KY where w will stay for the foreseeable future. An introduction ceremony one month before the actual inductions includes an impressive parachute jump by Team Fastrax. We have an active Hall of Fame Alumni Association, and each year we give multiple scholarships to high school seniors who are related to those alumni.
H.B. Deatherage
Founder & Executive Director
H. B. is Founder and Executive Director of the Kentucky Veteran's Hall of Fame (KVHOF) and has been at the helm of the foundation since the day in early 2010 when the idea was just a vision.
As a Vietnam Veteran, H.B. knows all about visions and missions. Many years after returning home from his service to our country, his mission was to build a veterans memorial in the city of Florence, KY. Deatherage, who grew up in Boone County and owns a Florence business, garnered the city's approval in 1995 to erect the monument on 44 city-owned acres on Ewing Boulevard, where a new city building was planned. Although the monument was to be located in Florence, this veteran pointed out that the memorial is for everyone who wants to pause and "pay homage to the soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen who were killed in the line of duty". The finishing touches to the monument were completed during the Memorial Day ceremony in May 2011 when the POW/MIA monument was dedicated to the Boone County Veterans Memorial site......H.B. now has completed the final portion of his "veteran's vision" with the first induction ceremony which was held in Frankfort Kentucky in March 2014 of the Kentucky Veterans' Hall of Fame.
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