Operation Yellow Ribbon brings thousands to campus
Janel Shoun |
| GEN. Tommy Franks (RET.) |
| Amy Grant |
| Kix Brooks |
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The day belonged to heroes at Lipscomb University on Tuesday, March 23.
The Operation Yellow Ribbon event brought 4,000 people to Allen Arena for An Inspiring Evening of Songs and Stories featuring GEN. Tommy Franks (RET.) and Charlie Daniels. Earlier in the day 170 people, including injured military veterans, attended a day-long symposium to address many of the issues veterans face upon returning home.
Thousands gathered in Allen Arena to hear Franks, Daniels and Kix Brooks, Amy Grant, Gretchen Wilson and Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers in a fundraiser for Lipscomb’s Yellow Ribbon scholarship program and various other non-profits serving the needs of returning veterans and their families.
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Patriotic songs rang out as the audience learned about Challenge America, Folds of Honor and other services for veterans and heard praises for our service man and women both past and present.
Franks recounted a brief chronology of his military service for America, from Vietnam to the Middle East. “I’m reminded from time to time what those 38 years of experience taught me,” he said. “What I hope you and I will remember: the lesson learned is to never, never underestimate an American soldier.”
Each performer played an inspiring song and the cast joined together at the end of the evening to sing “America the Beautiful.”
“There is a spirit of patriotism in this country that never goes away,” said Charlie Daniels.
Participants at the symposium, co-sponsored by Challenge America, discussed weighty issues such as education and vocational training, access to housing, support for caregivers, availability of jobs and treating traumatic brain injury. The purpose was to gather service providers and interested parties to focus on solutions for the transition from battlefield to home front for returning military.
Major General Bob Dees (Ret.), executive director of Military Ministries, spoke at the symposium and outlined the negative toll the recent wars have taken on American families and the service men and women. Suicide rates are the highest ever, he said. Symptoms of post traumatic stress syndrome are found in well over 20 percent of returning veterans. And more than a quarter of the homeless in America are military veterans.
“The nation that fails to heal the wound of war is a nation at risk,” Dees said. “We have pain in our military and we have the challenge to march to the pain.”
Among the ideas that sprung up in the housing seminar, was the notion to allow small banks to donate their foreclosed properties to a non-profit organization that would them provide the home for a returning veteran. While not commonly practiced now, the participants in the session felt the idea could be a win-win situation for all parties, especially since it would not result in an income tax increase for the veterans.
Meredith Iler, national chairman of the Home Program, based in Texas, said that her organization often works with energy providers to obtain a year’s worth of free electricity for veterans. The organization also collects gift cards to home stores to help veterans stick their new homes.
“Many people don’t realize that these people have lived on base so they don’t own anything,” Iler said. “When we move we have boxes of stuff. They just have a backpack.”
Challenge America
The mission of Challenge America is to work with communities across the United States in linking new and existing services and supporting the development of recreational and occupational programs to better serve returning injured military and their families.
Yellow Ribbon Program
Lipscomb’s Yellow Ribbon Program offers eligible military veterans and their family members an undergraduate degree and an MBA tuition-free or other graduate degrees at a greatly reduced tuition rate.
Sponsors
Event sponsors and special friends include Abilene Center Conflict Resolution, ADS, Association of Army Dentists, Clear Channel, Cracker Barrel, Dollar General, Drescher and Sharp, Ezell Foundation, Military Systems, Morgan Dempsey, Pinnacle Bank, Steve Smith, Southern Events, Spirit Broadband, SunTrust Bank, Trauger & Tuke , Tennessee Commerce Bank and YMCA of Middle TN.
| Charlie Daniels |
| Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers |