Continuing the Mission

Letter from the Editor

by Tim Holbert
The holiday season is a time for giving thanks for all that we have – for our friends, our family, and also for those who are serving our country around the world.

For the American Veterans Center, it is also a time to thank the thousands of Americans who believe in our mission to preserve the legacy of our veterans from the Greatest Generation through the latest generation. The past year has been a very good one for us, as our programs have continued to grow.

Thanks to your help, 2008 was a banner year for the American Veterans Center, with a number of highlights, including:

The Fourth Annual National Memorial Day Parade. Unbeknownst to many people, Washington, DC – our nation’s capital and headquarters of the military – was without a parade on Memorial Day for nearly seventy years prior to 2005. That year, the American Veterans Center brought that tradition back, and it has grown ever since.

The 2008 parade drew over a quarter million spectators, and was televised around the world on the Pentagon Channel. It featured hundreds of veterans, as well as celebrities like Hollywood legend (and WWII vet) Mickey Rooney, Miss America 2008, and actors and troop supporters Gary Sinise and Joe Mantegna.

The Eleventh Annual Conference: From November 6-8, some of America’s most distinguished veterans gathered for the Center’s annual conference, where they shared their experiences with an audience of hundreds of high school and college students. Participants included the legendary Doolittle Raiders, Tuskegee Airmen, “Filthy Thirteen,” Lt. General Hal Moore, recipients of the Medal of Honor, and several of the greatest heroes from Iraq and Afghanistan.

American Valor Quarterly. Introduced in early 2008, this magazine allows the Center to share, and preserve, first-hand accounts from veterans of every era so that future generations can better understand the values of service and sacrifice.

We have continued our radio documentary series, Veterans Chronicles, which airs on over 40 stations nationwide and can be downloaded from our website at www.americanveteranscenter.org. Also, as you will note in this issue, we have taken the lead in sponsoring a number of events for wounded service members just home from the front lines. Our youth programs continue to go strong, with speaker programs, scholarships, and student participation in all of our events geared toward building a culture of service among today’s young people. Your support has also allowed us to donate several thousand copies of our 2009 WWII Calendar to VA Hospitals and vets centers around the country.

It has been an honor for us to do this work on behalf of those who have served, and are serving, and we look forward to continuing our mission into 2009. Until then, we wish each and every one of our readers a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.