BLUEFIELD, W. Va. -Ten years ago, some community members came together to create an event to honor veterans, starting with a breakfast the first year and adding a stand down distribution the next year, with the event growing ever since.
“I thought it might last a year or two and fizzle, but, instead, it‘s lasted ten years, and it’s exploded,” says Omar Aboulhosn, one of the founding organizers of the Veterans’ Breakfast and Stand Down
One new addition started last year: an award given to celebrate the lives of veterans doing important work in the community, with this year’s winners being the president and vice president of the Vietnam Veterans of America 628 chapter, both working with organization for many years.
“I was very appreciative of it. It surprised me, really…” says Ed Taylor, president of the 628 chapter, “…You know, just a quick note, this year makes fifty-six years I’ve been back from Vietnam… fifty-six years. That’s a long time.”
The event had help from people in the community, including young people from local colleges and the Boy Scouts.
“We’re here giving back to the veterans that served our community and our nation for so long, so this is the smallest deed, but it makes the most impact that we can do for them, give them food and stuff, supplies,” says Patrick Conner, of Boy Scout Troop 1 in Princeton.
Aboulhosn hopes veterans leave here with the knowledge they are appreciated, and the young people volunteering here leave with a new appreciation for what the veterans sacrificed.
“…They get to do what they do because these men and women did what they did, and I just think it’s important for them to understand… they have the freedom to be baseball players, softball players, and high school students because the men and women sacrificed their time with their family, risked their lives for their country and for the freedoms that we have,” says Aboulhosn.
Aboulhosn says it’s hard work bringing this event to life every November, however, he says the end result is worth the effort.
Those we spoke to encourage other veterans to attend next year‘s Veterans’ Breakfast and Stand Down, with Taylor adding that it’s a great way spend time with others who served.
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