On April 20, AWCI member Leonard Liddle of Liddle Brothers Contractors in Nashville, Tenn., was an honoree on this year’s Honor Flight of Middle Tennessee. He, along with other selected American military veterans, was recognized for his sacrifices and achievements by being flown to Washington, D.C., to see his war’s memorial.
The non-profit Honor Flight is a nation-wide program that takes eligible World War II, Korean War and Vietnam veterans on a free trip to see their war memorials in the nation’s capital. During the day Leonard and fellow veterans spent time at the World War II Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. They also drove by the Air Force Memorial, the Iwo Jima Memorial and the Pentagon. The afternoon concluded with the changing of the guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Liddle Brothers Contractors was founded in 1939 by Leonard’s father and uncle. Leonard started as an apprentice in the firm after graduating high school, but his training was interrupted by the Korean War. After serving four years in the Marine Corps, Corporal Liddle completed his remaining years of apprenticeship training and became the jack-of-all trades in the family company. He bought out his father in 1973 and ran the company as a family business until his retirement. What began as a lath and plaster company has grown to now include EIFS/stucco, acoustical plaster, exterior coatings, cement panel systems, stone veneer and interior Venetian plaster, and it is now operated by Leonard’s daughter Dee and her husband Mike Taylor.
