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Senator Lugar encourages veterans to attend Indiana Operation Welcome Home!
Asks all veterans to be on hand "to receive our nation's gratitude."
Read Endorsement Letter
Senator Bayh expresses support for
Operation Welcome Home.
Says "the celebration of these veterans is long overdue and sets an example for how all American veterans should be welcomed home."
Travelling Vietnam Wall
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The Indiana Operation Welcome Home celebration did more than embrace and thank the veterans who poured onto the grounds of the National Military History Center in Auburn to listen to music, grab a ride in a Huey helicopter, or gaze at the travelling Vietnam Wall. The event also benefited a Fort Wayne homeless shelter that was struggling to complete a suite of rooms designed to serve homeless vets.
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Gun Truck — Wild Thing
Motorcycle Escort
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Shepherd's House
The Shepherd's House in Fort Wayne has been around for 10 years. Both the founder, Lonnie Cox, and the Director, Jim "Gunny" Zuber are Ex-Marines who are passionate about trying to help their fellow vets. When the organizers of Operation Welcome Home read about Shepherd's House and the problems of the facility's need to raise $3,000 to complete the suite, they decided that it was a cause worth "rallying the troops" for. Mike Jackson and Tara Dixon-Engel, President and Vice President of the American Veterans Institute, pledged the $3,000 to Lonnie Cox and his wife Barbara, who operate the center. Then, Robert Krafft, Director of the National Military History Center, and his staff began working with the AVI officials to raise the needed funds throughout the weekend celebration.
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Check Presentation
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Check Presented on Last Day
Organizers were thrilled to announce that not only did they raise the $3,000, but many local organizations and churches have pledged support to Shepherd's House. "Many people who dropped money into our buckets Saturday night also told me that their churches were taking up a special collection on Sunday," Dixon-Engel said. "It was truly heart-warming to see how the citizens of Indiana responded to our veterans in need. And the folks at the National Military History Center deserve a huge pat on the back. They spread the word and worked tirelessly to raise that money. Every one of our Operation Welcome Home events is a little different, but this one will live on as the one that truly reinforced our belief in people and in good old fashioned faith!"
Jackson, Dixon-Engel and Krafft presented a check for $2,300, plus one for $650, donated by Mr. Roger Souder of Auburn, and one for $50 -- totaling $3,000 -- to Lonnie and Barbara Cox on the last day of the celebration, July 6.
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Event Draws Thousands |
Event Draws Thousands
The four-day event drew over 10,000 veterans, families and patriots. "We talked to a lot of people who brought veteran family members to the celebration for its healing qualities. They were not disappointed," said AVI president Mike Jackson. "The Huey 369 was a big hit with the Vietnam guys. A number of people told me they had not been in a Huey since they left Vietnam...several of them on stretchers! Climbing into that chopper again was like coming full circle; only this time with a heroe's welcome — as it should be. It really had meaning to them." |
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Native Americans Blessing |
Mike Jackson
Opens the Celebration
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Photos, from top:
1. The travelling wall offered a healing experience to all those who gazed on the names etched there.
2. Three of five existing Vietnam gun truck replicas attended the celebration. "Wild Thing" is based in Indiana.
3. Over 400 motorcycles, lead by the Director of the National Military History Center, Robert Krafft, escorted the Wall to its location on the NMHC grounds. A pig roast was held afterward for the cyclists and visitors.
4. AVI President and Vice President Mike Jackson and Tara Dixon Engel (left) and NMHC Executive Director Bob Krafft (far right) present $3,000 to Shepherd's House Founders Barbara and Lonnie Cox (center).
5. Members of the Legion Riders, Patriot Guard, and Harley Owners Group attended the opening ceremonies of Operation Welcome Home Indiana.
6. Miami Indian Catherine Mowry of Fort Wayne offered a traditional Indian blessing of the Wall at the formal Memorial Service. Native Americans are prominently featured in Operation Welcome festivities, said National Chairman Mike Jackson, because they were one of the few who Welcomed Home the troops during the Vietnam era.
7. OWH National Chairman and President of AVI Mike Jackson, Lt. Col. USAF (Ret) officially opened the celebration.
8. Huey 369 circles the travelling Wall.
9. Congressman Mark Souder (R-IN) unveiled the World War II Victory Museum's expanded identity as the National Military History Center. Souder said the growing facility will be a national treasure that will preserve veteran histories for years to come. He stands beside the new logo with AVI President Tara Dixon-Engel.
10. NMHC director Robert Krafft presents polo shirts with the facility's new name and logo to Congressman Mark Souder and to State Senator Allen Paul (right). Paul, a Vietnam veteran, offered a powerful keynote speech at the standing-room only Memorial Service on July 4. |
Huey 369 Circles the Wall
Tara Dixon Engel
and
Mark Souder
NHMC Director Robert Krafft, Congressman Mark Souder and State Senator Allen Paul
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