ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. - "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taught us to dream and not to give up on our dreams," said Rev. Samuel "Billy" Kyles as he addressed a large group of depot employees gathered for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day/Black History Month celebration Feb. 17 at the Physical Fitness Center.

Kyles, the pastor of Monumental Baptist Church in Memphis, Tenn., was a close friend of King and was part of a small group present during the last hours of King's life.

Quoting the poem "Dreams" by Langston Hughes, Kyles urged those present to "Hold fast to your dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly."

He said dreamers can accomplish things previously considered impossible, such as Alexander Graham Bell's dream of communicating via the telephone and the Wright brothers' dream to fly.

"Because they wouldn't give up on their dream, man has left his footprints on the moon," he said of the Wrights.

Kyles said he came from a long line of dreamers, those who held fast to their dreams and hopes in order to survive slavery and flourish in America.

"The record is only five of 20 made it across the Middle Passage, that journey from Africa to America," said Kyles. "Since that's true, I am a descendent of the five and I owe it to my ancestors to dream big dreams no matter what comes to pass. You better believe I do."

Kyles spoke about the last day of King's life - how he was in Memphis to speak at the garbage workers' strikes and he was supposed to have dinner that night at Kyles' home.

"The speech we know as the Mountaintop speech almost didn't happen," said Kyles as he spoke of the tornado warnings and thunderstorms around Memphis on April 3, 1968, the day before King's assassination.

Kyles said King talked more about death than he had at any other time and he gave details of the Sept. 20, 1958, stabbing he survived.

Kyles said that, looking back, it seemed that King knew he would not see the equality he had worked for come to fruition.

"He softened it and said he may not get there, knowing full well he would not get there," said Kyles.

Kyles said that even though King was assassinated, his dream did not die with him.

"Yes you can, unfortunately, kill the dreamer, but, no, absolutely, you cannot kill the dream," said Kyles. "The dream is still alive. Hallelujah, hallelujah, the dream is still alive."

Kyles' speech to the depot workforce was preceded during the luncheon event by Brenton Ball, the son of Calvin and Sheila Chatman Ball, who recited King's "I Have a Dream" speech. During the evening event for night shift workers, the Anniston Funeral Service Outreach Choir performed two songs.