“Welcome Home, Jared” – Thank You for Your Service
Last night I attended a “welcome home” for Captain Jared Miller, stationed in Afghanistan, who is home for the holidays in Pleasanton.
There is nothing better than welcoming home a returning soldier – someone who is fighting for our freedom in a far away place. I’ve attended several of these now in the San Ramon Valley and the Tri-Valley.
See the slideshow for the Jared Miller “welcome home” event.
Jared is the son of my good friend Doug Miller, who heads the VFW in Pleasanton and serves on the Sentinels of Freedom team with me there. In March of this year, our team helped to welcome to Pleasanton a courageous young man named Jay Wilkerson who was hit by enemy fire and suffered a traumatic brain injury. The Sentinels helps those most severely wounded on the battlefield with housing, education, employment, transportation – anything they might need as they enter a brand new community. You can learn more at www.SentinelsofFreedom.org about this wonderful organization that has placed some 54 soldiers in new communities – it started right here in Danville, California by a true American patriot Mike Conklin and Mayor Abram Wilson who is running in Assembly District 15 serves on the national board of directors.
How the “welcome home” works is that residents and friends show up at the home of the returning soldier – an American flag larger than any you’ve seen generally is the back drop – and the local veterans and Blue Star Moms groups always play a role. It is quite a site as “Spike” Schau and his Patriot Motorcycle Guard accompany the soldier home.
The soldier is honored with presentations of medals, plaques and tokens thanking him or her for their service. There is a party that follows and as you can imagine – great joy. This is the place where I live and I’m proud that they are taking the reins this year to do the larger holiday “welcome” ceremony.
If you’re around the Bay Area on December 27th, there is a larger welcome planned in the Town of Danville on Sunday, December 27th from 1:00 to 4:00 PM at the Veterans Memorial Building, 400 Hartz Avenue in downtown Danville.
If you know of a family with a returning veteran or just see a soldier in their fatigues on the street, take time throughout the year to thank them for their service. At a time when the economy sags, the U.S. Senate has passed a catastrophic health care bill that is a true catastrophe for taxpayers, and people are more dissatisfied than ever with the state of our state, our returning veterans are a shining star that makes the seasons bright. Take a minute to thank them anytime you can.
