In honor of Veterans Day, veterans from St. Cloud enjoyed a steak dinner, fellowship, and inspiring words from two guest speakers Friday night.
No less than three World War II veterans were in attendance, as well as vets from the Korean and Vietnam Wars and later conflicts, at the event held at the City’s Lakefront Marina Building.
The first guest speaker was retired U.S. Navy Commander Demetries Grimes, a decorated Afghanistan War combat veteran, aviator, diplomat, and internationally published foreign affairs writer. Commander Grimes spoke about America’s current status in the world today from a national security perspective.
Retired Army Brigadier General Thomas Maney, who is also a retired judge from the Panhandle region, spoke about a defining moment in his life in 2005, while deployed to Afghanistan. He was traveling back from viewing a proposed water bottling plant when an improvised explosive device was detonated in the road. He received significant injuries, including severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and spent almost 20 months recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
He detailed how inadequate treatments for TBI were at the time, and even as a general officer he had to fight both the military and Veterans Affairs bureaucracies to get help. He remarked how his experiences changed his outlook on life, especially as a judge, and how he now looked at people with physical and mental disabilities, substance abuse, and has a new appreciation of the impact on their families.
The evening concluded with a 21-gun salute by a veteran honor guard and echoing bugles playing Taps.
Thanks to the main sponsors St. Cloud Main Street, Ford Insurance and OUC, and others, over 80 veterans and some of their significant others were able to attend free of charge.
Salute!
