Veterans Day Program at Civic Center

The VFW will host the Veterans Day program on Sunday, Nov. 11, at the Civic Center at 10:30 a.m. Guest speaker will be Valley View Home administrator Wes Thompson.

He is a life member of Post 3107 and a Navy veteran. He joined the Navy in 1997 as a Hospital Corpsman, Chief Fleet Marine Force Independent Duty Corpsman. He attended Neuro-Psychiatric Technician School to become a combat psych tech. In 2003, he deployed to Joint Task Force Camp Delta in Guantanamo Bay as the leading petty officers for the “Psych Block.”

In 2004, he was assigned to OIF Bravo Surgical Company, Fallujah, Iraq, as a combat psych tech. His next school was Independent Duty Corpsman where his duties transformed to support combat operations in tactical remote locations, being the sole medical support. He deployed to Joint Task Force Operations in Mindanao, Philippines, in 2006. His final combat was to Iraq in 2007-2008 to run the Shock and Trauma Platoon in Camp Korean Village. In 2009, he was requested to complete a deployment aboard the FFG-60 USS Rodney M Davis in support of the South American Counter Drug Operations. In 2010, Chief Thompson joined the sacred command known as Joint Personnel Accounting Command (JPAC). He spent his years as Team Leader and medical support in ten missions to investigate, search and recover remains of our fallen Missing in Action personnel from previous wars.

His teams worked in Laos, India, Papau New Guinea, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Vietnam.

A potluck will follow the program at the VFW starting at noon. The public is welcome.

Poppy distribution will begin Saturday, Nov. 10, with cans being placed in businesses and volunteers collecting donations on the two street corners, beside Western Drug and across from D&G Sports and Western.