Ten-hut! » veterans

Job fair for area veterans and spouses

Rusty Dennen — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 15:49:35 +0000

Hiring Our Heroes is holding its next job fair for veterans and their spouses in Washington on March 15. More than 100 employers with jobs available will be on hand. Since it was formed in March 2011, the organization says in a press release, that it has helped nearly 100,000 people find jobs. The job fair is from 9 a.m. to noon at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place, N.W. Job-seekers should register for free here, though walk-ins are allowed. The program is run by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

Honor local WWII vets with `Honor Flight’ screening here

Rusty Dennen — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 15:30:29 +0000

On Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Day, some local Boy Scouts went to the Washington, D.C. premiere of the documentary about a community in the Midwest that bands together to honor four World War II veterans one last time by sending them to the nation’s capital to visit the World War II Memorial. Tanner Poitras, of Boy Scout Troop 835, and Jake Phillips, of Boy Scout Troop 14, decided they wanted to honor local veterans by arranging a showing of the film here. In a letter to The Free Lance-Star this week, the two wrote: “With our nation losing more than 900 WWII veterans every day, there are fewer opportunities to honor and recognize these heroes from The Greatest Generation. This film was not originally scheduled to play here in Fredericksburg, but we learned that we could arrange for it to be shown, as long as there was enough demand for it locally.” They contacted Paragon Village 12 Theaters, behind Spotsylvania Towne Centre, which agreed to a special screening in one of its largest theaters at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23, the 68th anniversary of the Marines’ planting of the Stars and Stripes atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

“We expect to have a number of Korean War and World War II veterans present as our special guests,” the letter went on to say. The pair want to cover the ticket price for as many veterans as they can. Tickets are $10. Local residents can buy a ticket, or sponsor one for a veteran by clicking here. There is an email contact on the site for questions and more information. According to the site, about 114 tickets have been purchased; about 120 are left.

Parades planned for Iraq war vets

Rusty Dennen — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:11:07 +0000

Two parades are in the works–one in the nation’s capital, and one in Richmond–to honor veterans of the Iraq war, and the thousands who didn’t make it home, or were injured. Boeing Corp. is sponsoring the 2012 National Memorial Day Parade in D.C. It’s on May 28, 2 p.m. on Constitution Avenue. The war began in March 2003; President Obama announced the end of combat operations there in December. Meanwhile, the war in Afganistan rages on. A press release for the D.C. parade notes: “With troops still deployed in Afghanistan, government officials have decided against holding a traditional welcome home parade for Iraq war veterans in Washington or New York in the near future….It is s imperative that we show our support and gratitude as a nation,” said James C. Roberts, president of the American Veterans Center, which founded and organized the parade. “Sadly, others in the country are not doing enough to honor these young men and women who have sacrificed family relationships, jobs, and economic stability to go off to fight for their country.” Read more here.

Richmond’s Welcome Home, parade, meanwhile, has raised $50,000 for that event, according to its website. That one’s planned for 10 a.m. on May 19, Armed Forces Day. It

will begin at Kensington and Boulevard, and proceed down Boulevard to

Byrd Park, ending at the Carillon.