What:

Local elected officials, postal representatives, and family and friends will all join to celebrate the dedication of the Mt. Vernon Post Office building in honor of Second Lieutenant Patrick Palmer Calhoun.  The public is invited to attend this free event.

Who:

Catherine Douglas, Daughter of Second Lieutenant Patrick Calhoun
The Honorable Rick Allen, U.S. Congressman (GA-12)
The Honorable Joey Fountain, Mayor, Mt. Vernon, GA
Eliot Siegman, USPS Manager, Post Office Operations
Michelle Logan, USPS Manager, Customer Relations

When:

Friday, September 13, 2024, 10:00 a.m. EST

Where:

Mt. Vernon Post Office
120 Church St.
Mount Vernon, GA 30445

Background:

Congressman Rick Allen (R-GA) spoke the words below as he proposed bill H.R. 3944 to the House of Representatives. “Second Lieutenant Patrick Palmer Calhoun, a native of Mount Vernon, GA, was born on March 19, 1941.

After graduating from Montgomery County High School in 1959, Second Lieutenant Calhoun attended the University of Georgia where he joined R.O.T.C. and earned his pilot’s license while finishing his junior year of college.  That next year, Calhoun graduated and enrolled in his first year of law school at the University of Georgia where  he met the love of his life, Jane Dunham, whom he later married in 1963.  That same year, Jane and Patrick’s only child – Catherine Ruth Calhoun – was born on November 29.

Shortly after Catherine was born, Second Lieutenant Calhoun answered the call to service and willingly put down his books and put on his uniform – joining the United States Army where he was first stationed at Fort Benning, now known as Fort Moore, near Columbus, GA.  Later, after completing flight training in Mineral Wells, TX, Calhoun was deployed on his first assignment in Vietnam in 1964.

A born leader, Calhoun served in a Rotary Wing Aviation Unit. While dropping off troops in the Spring of 1965, Calhoun was declared Missing in Action before being declared deceased at the young age of only 24 years old.  Lieutenant Patrick Palmer Calhoun was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroism and extraordinary achievements while engaged in aerial flight.”

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