An inductee into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame will be the keynote speaker at the Veterans Day assembly hosted by Kingfisher High School.

Former Army Capt. Bob Ford of Okeene will address the crowd at the event, which has been moved to 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 13, due to the actual holiday falling on a Saturday and to accommodate Ford’s schedule.

The assembly will be held in the KHS All-Purpose Building.

“We would like to extend an invitation to all veterans and their families to attend,” said Amy Pearson, a KHS Student Council sponsor, which is organizing the program.

In addition to Ford speaking, members of the KHS band and KHS choir will perform while the Oklahoma Boys State and Girls State delegates will serve as student speakers.

There will also be a luncheon provided for veterans and their families after the program.

Ford served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot in Vietnam from July 1967 to July 1968.

He made his commitment to flying helicopters when he was still in col-lege at the University of Oklahoma. He completed ROTC training and received a commission in the U.S. Army in 1966.

He volunteered for Army helicopter flight school and within one year was flying combat in Vietnam, where he flew over 1,000 helicopter missions.

After the first six weeks, he became an aircraft commander and took over command of a helicopter detachment in the farthest northern helicopter unit in Vietnam.

When Ford completed his tour, he became an instructor pilot at Fort Wolters in Minerals Wells, Texas.

Following his discharge in 1969, he moved to Okeene to head the Okeene division of Shawnee Milling Co., which he still actively manages.

His book, Black Cat 2-1, chronicling the true story of his helicopter crew’s experiences in the war, was published in 2015.

Ford was also the keynote speaker at the Kingfisher Chamber of Commerce Banquet in February 2018.

Later that year, in November, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame.