WACO, Texas (KWTX) - The oldest black church in Killeen honored their veterans with a special call back to their time in service.

Simmonsville Missionary Baptist Church has been a place of refuge for the community since 1950. Now, about 80% of their members are, or are related to, veterans.

The church’s head pastor, D.L. Jones, and his wife are both veterans as well.

To celebrate them ahead of Veterans Day, the church’s event coordinator Gwendolyn Tyler organizes an annual veteran’s march during Sunday service.

“Because a lot of them sacrificed their life for us, I don’t want them to ever think their years of labor and being away from their family have been in vain,” she said.

They sang traditional military cadence songs, shared stories from their time in service, and were honored wit

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