Grand Marshals also include celebrity Connie Stevens, businessman Jason LeVecke, and decorated military working dog Lex
When: Thursday, Oct. 9, 2008, 10 a.m.
Where: Phoenix VA Health Care System, Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center, Ambulatory Care Clinic (ACC), Northeast corner of Third Street and Indian School Road
PHOENIX - Area veterans who served during Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF - Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) will be honored by the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care System, as it prepares for the 2008 VA Veterans Day Parade, one of the largest such events in the nation.
The OEF/OIF veterans are:
Laura Bringas, Maryvale area of Phoenix and served with the U.S. Marine Corps
Aya Harrison, of Chandler, who served with the U.S. Air Force
Tim Hernandez, of Florence, who served with the U.S. Army
Kevin Ivory, who resides in central Phoenix and served with the U.S. Navy
Nearly 9,600 Persian Gulf, OEF and OIF veterans receive their care from the Phoenix VA Health Care System. Of these, approximately 8,600 are men and 1,000 are women; 3,200 of these patients have had multiple deployments.
Also serving as Grand Marshals in the 2008 VA Veterans Day Parade will be:
Connie Stevens, who will serve as Celebrity Grand Marshal. Star of films, television and stage, as well as a recording artist, she has been involved in a number of humanitarian projects through the years, including visiting troops from the Vietnam War to the Persian Gulf.
Jason LeVecke, Business Community Grand Marshal, who served with the Marine Corps from 1997 to 2001, and is president of MJKL Enterprises Inc., which owns and operates Carl's Jr. restaurants in Arizona.
Lex, a highly honored military working dog, whose handler, Marine Cpl. Dustin Lee, was killed in Iraq in 2007. Lex, a German Shepherd, sustained non-life-threatening injuries, and was subsequently retired and adopted by Lee's family, who will be here with Lex for the parade.
The PVAHCS which serves 70,000 veterans in central and northern Arizona as patients also will unveil educational displays honoring veterans of the OEF-OIF conflicts and educating patients and the public about medical care for America's combat wounded and its veterans after their return home.
The veterans will make brief remarks during the event. Light refreshments will be served after the program.
The Phoenix VA Health Care System's Annual VA Veterans Day Parade will take place Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008, starting at 11 a.m. The parade will begin at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center grounds at Seventh Street and Indian School Road in Phoenix. The parade will head north on Seventh Street from Montecito to Camelback Road, west on Camelback Road to Central Avenue, and north on Central Avenue to Montebello, ending at the North Phoenix Baptist Church.
With a theme of "Serving with Honor," the Phoenix VA Health Care System's annual VA Veterans Day Parade honors all who have served in war, conflict and peacetime.
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Media Note: The OEF/OIF Veteran Grand Marshals will be available for interviews, and will have some mementos of their service, including photographs.
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