HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- The chapel hosted its annual Martin Luther King Jr. commemorative service, Jan. 12, here.

Nearly 100 Air Commandos, active duty and retired, attended the service where Chaplain (Maj.) Michelle Law-Gordon, staff chaplain with Air Force Reserve Command, spoke to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr.

“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a great advocate for civil rights and he cared and sacrificed so much for the sake of others,” Law-Gordon said. “This is an opportunity for us to pay tribute to an awesome man.”

The service is put on not only to remember King, but to raise awareness of everything he did during the Civil Rights Movement.

“You cannot allow this [day] to fade away or be forgotten,” said John Armour, chairman of Hurlburt Field’s African American Heritage Month committee. “What this can do is bring awareness--it wasn’t just about African Americans; it was a civil rights movement as a nation. It wasn’t just African Americans who partnered with Dr. King, it was Italians, Jewish people, Caucasians and Native Americans.”

During her speech, Law-Gordon referred to Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a day on, not a day off. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated the third Monday of January, commemorating his birthday and was first observed as a federal holiday in 1986.

“Today we remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” she said. “We need to increase the awareness of the accomplishments we’ve made as a whole and we need everyone to realize that those who came before us made a difference and so can we.”