Ohio Legion Official Resigns After Quieting Veteran's Speech

HUDSON, OH — An American Legion official who reportedly turned down the microphone volume during an Ohio veteran's Memorial Day speech has resigned, according to a report by The Associated Press.

Jim Garrison, adjutant of the American Legion Post 464 in Hudson, resigned one day after the state organization demanded he step down, Roger Friend, department commander for the Ohio American Legion, told The AP.

Garrison has since been asked to drop his membership altogether, Friend said.

Garrison was one of two post officials who reportedly turned off the microphone during retired Army Lt. Col. Barnard Kemter's Memorial Day speech at a ceremony organized by the group. During the speech, Kemter spoke about the role Black Americans played in the founding of Memorial Day.

Kemter was sharing a story about how freed Black slaves honored the soldiers who died during the Civil War when the microphone shut off, according to an Akron Beacon-Journal report.

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A.J. Stokes, the event's audio engineer, told the Beacon-Journal he refused to turn the microphone down for that part of Kemter's speech; however, Garrison and event organizer Cindy Suchan, were "very adamant" about the volume being turned down for that part.

Stokes said Garrison turned the volume knob down, then back up, after Stokes refused to do it himself.

Suchan had told the newspaper that organizers didn't want that part of the speech broadcasted because it "was not relevant to our program for the day," which, she said, was "honoring Hudson veterans," according to the Beacon-Journal.

In a statement to the Associated Press, Friend said the Ohio American Legion "does not hold space for members, veterans, or families of veterans who believe that censoring black history is acceptable behavior."

Friend said the censoring was premeditated and planned by Garrison and Suchan.

“They knew exactly when to turn the volume down and when to turn it back up,” Friend said.