Patty Harmon Younger will be the guest speaker at the annual Wall of Honor Memorial Day Ceremony at the Wytheville Meeting Center. The ceremony will be held on Sunday, May 29, beginning at 1:30 p.m.
A native of Wythe County, Younger graduated from Fort Chiswell High School and then earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications Art from Roanoke College.
Always wanting to serve her country, Younger joined the United States Army Reserves while in college to help pay for her education via the GI Bill. She was part of the split-option program, spending the Summer of 1986 at Fort Jackson in South Carolina, and the following summer doing Medic training at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. After training as an Army Reservist, she attended drills in Galax as part of the 343rd Med Company. This unit was activated in November 1989 to serve in Desert Storm. Younger’s time there was spent with the medivac mobile hospital. Some of her duties included unloading helicopters, shuttling wounded from the helipad to the ER, and then transporting them two hours away to a brick-and-mortar hospital where the wounded would receive more treatment.
Younger remained in the Army Reserves for more than six years. During this time, she received two Achievement Medals, a Southeast Asia medal and a National Defense medal. She achieved the rank of E5 Sergeant before leaving military service.
Back in Wythe County, after volunteering as a coach and working as a substitute teacher, Younger decided to get a teaching licensure in Art. She spent thirty years teaching Art, retiring in 2020. She and her husband L.E. have two adult children, Brennen and Jared. In retirement, she continues to cultivate her passion for art by teaching classes in the community and sharing her art on social media.
