Army Lieutenant General (Ret.) William “Jerry” Boykin, former Commander of the elite U.S. Army Special Forces, will be the keynote speaker at the seventh annual South Placer County National Day of Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, May 3 at 7 a.m., at William Jessup University in Rocklin.
“We are thrilled to have General Boykin speaking at our breakfast this year,” said John Allard, the chairman of the event, and a Roseville City Council member. “He is a national hero, a great leader, and an incredible man of faith. We fully expect that this will be the third year in a row the breakfast has sold out.”
Tickets to the event cost $15 for adults and $6 for students. They will go on sale Thursday, March 15 online at www.jessup.edu/pray. Sponsorships and table host packages also are available. Additional information is available by calling (916)-577-2208.
"I am excited about returning to the Sacramento area for the South Placer County National Day of Prayer,” said General Boykin. “I plan to share a message of hope for the nation and for each of us as we put our faith into action to make a difference for America and for our fellow Americans."
LTG Boykin formerly served as the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. He participated in the invasions of Grenada and Panama in 1983 and 1989 respectively, accepted the surrender of Manuel Noriega in Panama, and headed the chase to capture Colombian drug czar Pablo Escobar in 1992. In 1993, he clashed with Muslim warlord Osman Atto in Mogadishu, Somalia, chronicled in the film Black Hawk Down.
LTG Boykin ultimately served as the Commander of the U.S. Army Special Forces Command and as the Commandant of the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. He also served six years in Intelligence (two with the CIA) and was a member of the National Security Policy Coordinating Committee for Terrorism and Coordinating Sub-Group for Homeland Security. His memoir, Never Surrender: A Soldier’s Journey to the Crossroads of Faith and Freedom, was released in 2008. He has also authored two novels, Danger Close and Kiloton Threat. The general currently is a Professor of Leadership Studies at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia.
The National Day of Prayer was created in 1952 when President Harry S. Truman signed a joint resolution of Congress into law. In 1988 President Ronald Reagan signed a law declaring that the first Thursday in May would be designated as the National Day of Prayer each year.
According to Ted Rose, the State Coordinator for the National Day of Prayer Task Force, the South Placer County event is the premier prayer breakfast in the state.