Local veteran honors fallen friends this Memorial Day

EDMONSON COUNTY, Ky. – As Memorial Day approaches, one local veteran is taking time to honor the lives of those he served alongside.

Tim Vincent — known to many as “T-Bone” or “Vinny” — graduated from Edmonson County High School in 1977 and enlisted in the United States Army in 1980.

He completed both Airborne School and Ranger School before embarking on a distinguished military career. One of Vincent’s most memorable missions involved piloting an AH-64 Apache helicopter, a heavily armored aircraft that fired the first shots of the Gulf War.

Vincent served nearly 30 years in the Army. Decades after that mission, he finally received a long-overdue medal of recognition. But for Vincent, the honor isn’t about the accolades, it’s about remembrance.

Beneath his American flag, Vincent keeps a special plaque listing the names of six close friends who were killed in Iraq.

“Every Memorial Day, I take a six-pack of beer out to the flag,” he says. “Six out for the boys.”

By the end of his military service, Vincent had completed nearly 300 missions, made 235 aircraft jumps, and logged 987 combat hours.

This Memorial Day, his message is simple: remember the heroes who never came home.