The Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Health Care System hosts a program called Pathways to Housing- Homeless Program Festival. The Pathways to Housing goals are to collaborate with community partners to ultimately find Veterans without shelter, housing. The Pathways to Housing Homeless Program Festival will be at the OKC VA Medical Center, located at 921 NE 13th St., Oklahoma City on Wednesday, April 16, from 8am – 4pm. The festival will be at the OKC VA, Atrium-area, Ground Floor.

The OKC VA and other homeless community partners are pulling resources together to help Veterans find housing options, employment opportunities, mental health services, medical care, legal assistance, and many other support services for both the Veteran and their families.

This program is hoping to highlight the important work that that VA providers and community partners are doing to help homeless Veterans find housing. If you are a Veteran and struggling to find housing or are at-risk, please come to the OKC VA Main Campus on Wednesday, April 16th from 8am-4pm, located at 921 NE 13th St., Oklahoma City, OK 73104 or call the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 877-424-3838.

Angeline Sivic, 99, is a part of World War II history, where she served as a Rosy Riveter working on airplanes in Wichita, Kansas.
Sivic, who turns 100 years old on April 14, was born on a small farm, seven miles north of Hartshorne.
After graduating from Hartshorne High School, Sivic, who resides in Iris Memory Care in Nichols Hills, followed a cousin to Wichita, who was already working at the Boeing airplane plant.
“I went up there and got a job, right out of school,” she said. “I liked it alright.”
Rosie the Riveter was the star of a campaign aimed at recruiting female workers for defense industries during World War II, and she became perhaps the most iconic image of working women.
American women entered the workforce in unprecedented numbers during the war, as widespread male enlistment left gaping holes in the industrial labor force. Between 1940 and 1945, the female percentage of the U.S. workforce increased from 27 percent to nearly 37 percent, and by 1945 nearly one out of every four married women worked outside the home.
While women during World War II worked in a variety of positions previously closed to them, the aviation industry saw the greatest increase in female workers.
More than 310,000 women worked in the U.S. aircraft industry in 1943, making up 65 percent of the industry’s total workforce (compared to just 1 percent in the pre-war years). The munitions industry also heavily recruited women workers, as illustrated by the U.S. government’s Rosie the Riveter persuasion campaign.
Based in small part on a real-life munitions worker, but primarily a fictitious character, the strong, bandanna-clad Rosie became one of the most successful recruitment tools in American history, and the most iconic image of working women in the World War II era.
Sivic married her husband John on Oct. 30, 1946, after he returned from the war. They had 4 children (3 girls, 1 boy), 6 grandchildren, 9 great-grandchildren, and 1 great-great grandchild.
Sivic laughed when she was asked what she felt about turning 100.
“I am getting old,” she said.

Jana Determan, Sivic’s daughter, said her mother grew up on the family farm and loved cooking and gardening.
“She enjoyed canning what food came from her farm,” Determan said.
Sivic said both her parents came to the United States from Europe and eventually settled on the family farm.
She said her father worked in the coal mines along with other family members.
“That’s what they did, coal mining,” Determan said. “What they did was underground.” Determan said growing up her family ate together at home.
“Every meal, we ate at home. We didn’t go out to eat. They didn’t go on vacation. They were just home on the farm, their whole life,” she said.
Determan said growing up on a farm developed her mother into a strong-willed and hard-working person.
“She was the strong-willed person in the family. She’s the one that pretty much ran it (life on the family farm),” she said.
Determan said she is proud of her mother’s work achievements as Rosie the Riveter during World War II.
“I think it’s the greatest generation (World War II military/civilian workforce) and there’s a reason for that,” she said. story by Van Mitchell

It was standing room only at VFW Post 4938, Edmond, on March 1 as retired Navy Master Chief Larry Van Schuyver, Oklahoma’s State Commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH) and other members recognized about 42 individuals and groups who volunteered in 2024 and 2025 to make a difference to Oklahoma veterans, including combat wounded veterans. The annual ceremony was a tribute to those who improve veteran’s lives in many ways.
After receiving a plaque, recipients told the 90-person crowd what they do for veterans of all Services. It was quite evident, through tears and quivering voices, how deeply each person felt about their mission to honor veterans. The name of the award and its recipient are in bold font. Remarks by several recipients, edited for brevity, are provided below.

Spirit of Oklahoma Award
Lt. Col. Peter Plank said, “What a nice recognition for what we’ve done over 20 years with the World War II…We formed a Liberty Jump Team, parachute team, 20 plus years ago. And we jump in Normandy, France, Holland, and we do a veteran program in Belgium every year. And we took some Battle of the Bulge veterans back to the battlefields. They fought the villages, they liberated, and one of them…101-year-old Chock Charleston was a Sherman tank driver and we took him back to the villages that he went through and it took him to the Luxembourg American Cemetery and brought closure.”

Purple Heart Business of the Year
Jessie Newell of Shawnee is a photographer and owns Bird Nest Baby Photography. “I photograph war veterans to honor their service with or without their families…I’ve photographed over a thousand veterans…So, my very first veteran was named Dewey Muirhead…So, he comes out and he brings about 20 family members and I photographed them all…Dewey told me what D-Day was like, how terrifying it was to lay on Omaha Beach in the middle of thousands of wounded and dead soldiers, hearing young men yelling out for their mothers, because all of them were between 16 and probably 20 years old or somewhere around there.” She concluded, “It’s a blessing that I would never walk away from.”

Outstanding Mayor of the Year
Matthew Dukes, the Mayor of Midwest City, bested 64 nominees to earn the award. Accepting the plaque, he smiled and told the crowd, “I’m very honored…All I did was make Midwest City a Purple Heart City. I appreciate the recognition and – shock – to Midwest City. We’re on the map now. I appreciate this very much.” Mayor Dukes is a retired Chief Master Sergeant of the Oklahoma Air National Guard.

Purple Heart Veteran of the Year
Don Nichols, Muskogee Adjutant of the Military Order of the Purple Heart (and a Purple Heart recipient), and volunteers came from Muskogee and Tahlequah. He said of them, “They worked to save the (Jack C. Montgonery) VA Hospital in Muskogee…We went out and got together 80,000 signatures and kept them from moving the hospital, and it was that group that did it… We built a National Purple Heart Monument in Tahlequah, Oklahoma (It was dedicated May 25, 2024)…We’re proud of it…We are just in the process of recognizing the 14 historical black towns in the state of Oklahoma as Purple Heart Cities.”

Service Before Self Award
Sixteen members of the (mostly) motorcycle riding group Flag Poles Honoring our Veterans attended. One spokesman said Kevin Blake, the group’s founder, started in March 2020 and added, “Since then, the group has installed 670 flag poles for veterans…Most of us are just patriots (not veterans)…We will raise the flag with the pledge of allegiance, say a prayer over it…We do the 13 folds of the flag and read the meaning of the 13 folds…And then we’ll have a veteran present the flag to the recipient. It’s a moving experience.”

Distinguished Service
Organization of the Year
Vet Chat at Cornerstone Church, Midwest City, has been connecting veterans with local agencies, organizations, and civic groups for advice and assistance since 2018. About 15 members attended the ceremony. Leo Webster, the Executive Director, thanked his volunteers. “You stepped into the life of veterans in need, offering them support, understanding the compassion that they may never have found anywhere else…Let’s be relentless in our pursuit of saving lives and ensuring that no veteran feels alone, abandoned.”

General Pete Costilow Volunteers of the Year
Fat Guys Club. This dedicated group donates countless hours providing cooking demonstrations at the Norman Veterans Center, donating clothing for a special care school in OKC, cooking for children receiving Christmas gifts with the Mafias Motorcycle Club, cooking and delivering Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners to needy families, and grilling food on Father’s Day and Valentines Day for veterans at San Marcos Mexican Restaurant, OKC.

Hall of Honor Supporter.
Plaques went to Oklahoma Representative Andy Fugate, Stacy Reddig, Debra Wimpee, and John Meek of the Navy Enlisted Reserve Association-Oklahoma. After Pugate received his plaque, he said, “I’m grateful for the recognition. I’ll stand up for you every day.” Additionally, Dr. Kayse Shrum, Former President of OSU 2021-2025, received the Purple Heart Legacy and Oklahoma Purple Rose Awards.

Lady Purple Rose Award
Melissa Morrison, Heather Rutherford, Sarah Wheatley, Cloris Webster and Rolanna Whitlock received these awards. As he gave them, Schuyver said, …”the Purple Rose to us is the highest form of honor we give those that are members of our family.”
At the end of the ceremony, Jessie Newell of Bird Nest Photography stood up and praised Master Chief Van Schuyver – and guests agreed with thunderous rounds of applause. “As amazing as his military service is, it’s his service after retirement that blows my mind…If he’s not repairing a home, he’s out in a widow’s flower bed, or he’s trying to make money to pay a widow’s bills.” Besides leading the Oklahoma Chapter of the OMHF, she noted his efforts to collect canned goods to fill up VFW pantry shelves.
After the meeting ended, most attendees stayed and donated money to the Fat Guys Club in order to enjoy a good company while eating a hamburger or hot dog. It was evident these volunteers don’t provide hundreds, even thousands, of hours a year to receive plaques – they want to support Oklahoma’s veterans who need and appreciate help and they find a variety of ways to do it. Volunteerism is alive and well in our great state. That’s a good feeling. story by Richard Stephens

As morning sun shone through the stained-glass windows of the beautiful St. Joachim Chapel, sixteen veterans, each adorned with a commemorative medal, took their places to serve as torchbearers in the 2024 Saint Ann Olympic Opening Ceremony. Patriotically-dressed residents and staff eagerly lined the attractive, newly remodeled rooms of Saint Ann Independent and Assisted Living. John Williams’ Olympic fanfare could be heard ringing in the background. Flags waved and onlookers beamed as each veteran passed the torch to the next, each hearing his name and military branch announced to thunderous cheers. The ceremony culminated with the “lighting” of the Olympic cauldron by 101-year-old Delora Mealor, who is well-known as “Rosie the Riveter.” She has been much recognized for her admirable contribution to the war effort as a riveter working on B-17 and B-25 planes during WWII.

The Saint Ann Olympic Games coincided with the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, as live coverage from Paris was streamed on the projector screen in the Grand Theatre. The community, consisting of assisted and independent living, a convent of Carmelite Sisters, and respite care residents, celebrated Team USA while competing for over 150 medals in twenty Olympic-themed events. Games included putting and chipping, chair volleyball, cornhole, wheelchair races, basketball, pool-noodle javelin, and nerf-gun shooting. Challengers faced off in a life-sized “Hungry Hippos” game, sweeping up balls with brooms. Even trivia and bingo winners were awarded medals. As a homage to Paris, residents sampled international wines and croissants while betting on Silver Derby Horse Races, a monthly favorite on campus.

All-Around Silver Medalist, and Vietnam US Air Force Veteran, Jack Jackson, said of the Olympics, “Being a torch bearer was an emotional experience. So many people were teary eyed.” “The games were a lot of fun!” 101-year old, Norman Smith, a WWII Air Force Veteran and chair-volleyball MVP medalist said “The competitions were a blast! I love to play volleyball- but I need to be in the front row!” Deacon Bob Heskamp, US Airforce Veteran who served in Vietnam along with his wife, Kathie, said they were “just tickled” that the Veterans were honored during the ceremony. Regarding their choice to move to Saint Ann, he enthusiastically said “Everyone is great, …we’re all family here,” and “it’s the place to be.”

Stepping onto the campus, one is instantly immersed in a loving, vibrant, culture of kindness and respect. Also known as Saint Ann Retirement Center, the assisted and independent living community is a ministry owned and operated by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. Seniors of all faiths enjoy the community’s fun, affordable, luxurious living. They are free of long-term commitments or buy-in costs, unlike other campuses of this caliber. Families, friends, and pets join in lively social gatherings. Giggles of grandkids often fill the children’s play areas. From top-notch entertainment and Chef Lori’s delicious full-service dining to concierge and housekeeping services, Saint Ann makes elevated living attainable. Lauren Montiero, Campus Life Enrichment Director, said: “Whether being honored for military service or being driven to doctor appointments in a limousine, our residents stand a bit taller, hold their heads a bit higher, and feel the respect and dignity they so deserve. Saint Ann Assisted and Independent Living is located at 7501 W. Britton Road in north Oklahoma City.
… story and photos by Joyce Clark

For National Vietnam War Veterans Memorial Day, five veterans were honored with patriotic Quilts of Valor: John Wesley Ellis II (U.S. Army), Larry Perdue (U.S. Navy), Raymond McCormick (U.S. Marine Corps), Arthur L. Haizlip (U.S. Navy), George Verstraete (U.S. Army).

The Quilt of Valor Ceremony was held at 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 29 at the Edmond History Museum. The event was hosted by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR), Cordelia Steen Chapter. There is no admission and all ages are welcome.

The museum remained open during the ceremony.
During the ceremony, each of these veterans received a handmade patriotic quilt made by the Piedmont Quilt of Valor Foundation, whose goal is to cover service members and veterans touched by war with comforting and healing of quilts.

“The Quilt of Valor has been going on for quite a few years now. It’s an organization that honors all veterans that have been touched by war,” said Tammy Ross, DAR Service for Veterans chair with the Cordelia Steen Chapter, NSDAR. “The Quilt of Valor Foundation, they make the quilt, but other organizations do the ceremony. It’s my chapter that does the ceremony.”

Ross said her DAR chapter is five years old.

Established in 2020 with a charter membership of 26 ladies, the Cordelia Steen Chapter has grown to a thriving membership of 80 in 5 years. The Chapter was named Cordelia Steen in honor of the first pioneer women of Edmond.

“We’re part of the national society, Daughters of the American Revolution. And our goals are patriotism, education and historic preservation,” she said. “And this is part of our patriotism that we do. We honor our veterans. Last spring we did one for 10 recipients. This year we just honoring five men, and they represent the different branches of the military. Although this year, we don’t have an Air Force guy.”

The five veterans being honored include Verstraete a 1st Lieutenant who served as a Green Beret in Vietnam; McCormick is a Purple Heart recipient who served as a combat trainer in Vietnam; Haizlip served in the JAG; Perdue served as an aviation machinist; and Dr. Ellis served as a helicopter medic.

Ross said the DAR did the pinnings as part of the event.

“Any Vietnam Veteran who came to this ceremony also received a pin,” she said. “Because we’re partners with the 50th anniversary Vietnam War Commemoration Organization, we’re able to give out these pins on behalf of them. We presented these pins to any Vietnam Veteran that was there that has not received one. It was a neat program.”

Ross said it’s important to honor the service and sacrifices that veterans have made serving their country.

“They sacrificed themselves to be able to represent our country to protect it,” she said. “In all the things that the veterans do, and all the different wars that we’ve had that went all the way back to the Revolutionary War, they fought for a cause, and they fought for our freedom, to protect us from different things that could happen to our country.”

The mission of Edmond History Museum is to celebrate Edmond history through preservation and education. Museum hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday – Friday, and 1 p.m.- 4 p.m. on Saturday.

For more information visit www.EdmondHistory.org or by calling the museum at (405)-340-0078. Museum admission is free. story by Van Mitchell

Jeff Burch is a Morrison resident and disabled veteran who proudly served his country overseas. During his time in the Army, he was specially trained to see things coming that the average civilian might not be prepared to face. But late last year, he had no way of predicting an emergency situation that left him hospitalized.

He woke up in intense pain with no spinal fluid and no memory of the previous hours. Those hours, he says, are unforgettable for his family, as they rushed him to the Stillwater Medical Emergency Room.

“The process of coming into the hospital itself was traumatic for my wife, as well as my son. The staff at the emergency room were comforting. They tried everything at their disposal to figure out what was going on,” Burch said.

With no clear answers, Burch was admitted to the hospital. His insurance is through Veterans Affairs, so his family feared he may be transferred to another facility before they understood the reason for his condition.

Cooperation enabled Burch to stay put.

“The line of communication from Stillwater Medical to the Oklahoma City VA was completely wide open,” Burch said. “They helped my wife and my family get the paperwork all started, which is key.”

Burch had suffered a stroke and needed time to heal. His military training wasn’t entirely useless to him in hospital. He recognized how the structures he was so familiar with in the military seemed present among the staff caring for him. They each had a clear mission, rank and responsibility. Doctors, nurses, medical technicians, staff in the Central Business Office, all came together to provide care in his time of need. Care that he said he considers heroic.

“All the way from the nurse in the ER room to the top floor of your care, it takes a special kind of person to deal with a sick person. Most people that are sick are in a bad mood. But everyone I interacted with showed nothing but pure compassion, pure understanding. It’s almost as if they knew what I needed before I needed it,” Burch said.

Burch is quick to reject the label of hero for his service. To him, he was just doing the job he signed up for with the help of veterans who came before him and the allies who trained beside him. Others might disagree.

Mirriam-Webster defines a hero as a person admired for achievements and noble qualities. Admiration is certainly what Burch expressed for his care team.

“To summarize my experience as far as the care that I received at Stillwater Medical, it was extraordinary, humbling,” Burch said. “They didn’t have to take that above and beyond, but they did, and it shows. It really shows.”

Chief Damage Controlman Dennis Cherry II, of Oklahoma City, Okla., conducts a debrief with the response team following an aircraft firefighting drill on the flight deck aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett after an aircraft firefighting drill, Jan. 6, 2025. The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group is underway conducting routine operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Brianna Walker

Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Cameron Todd, from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, mounts a dental model using plaster stone aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in the Pacific Ocean, Jan. 29, 2025. Nimitz is underway in U.S. 3rd fleet conducting routine training operations. photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Caylen McCutcheon

Logistics Specialist Seaman Recruit Ashtyn Burch, from Norman, Oklahoma, bands pallets of hazardous materials in the hangar bay onboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, in preparation for Docked Planned Incremental Availability while in-port Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington. Ronald Reagan provides a combat-ready force that protects and defends the United States. photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Kleighton Vitug

Seaman Elijah Meksula, from Oklahoma, City, Oklahoma, stands watch on the bridge wing of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69) in the Philippine Sea, Feb. 20. Milius is forward-deployed and assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, the Navy’s largest DESRON and the U.S. 7th Fleet’s principal surface.

Edwards followed his heart to help the others during and after Vietnam War.

Ellis Edwards has been a Veteran Home Care client of SYNERGY HomeCare since May 2019.

He and his wife have been very grateful for the extra help they’ve been able to receive and have grown to view their caregivers as an extension of family.

His wife, Thao, said “SYNERGY is doing a great job to accommodate Ellis’ needs. They are a good company, especially to our veterans. Our caregivers are always there to help him, and it’s been such a relief for us.” The entire team is grateful to be able to serve the Edwards family and are honored to recognize his incredible service to our nation.”

Edwards might not see himself as a hero, but there are others that might dis agree with the Bronze Star Medal and Combat Infantry Badge recipient and a member of the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame.

Edwards, 77, has made a difference in peoples’ lives both during and after the Vietnam War.

He rescued 64 American allies when the Republic of Vietnam was falling to the North Vietnamese. In 1970, he was a second lieutenant in the infantry. He volunteered for the Republic of Vietnam for duty in Vietnam. He was promoted to Captain because of that rescue mission.

As an advisor, Edwards was aware of the instability of the South Vietnamese government. He promised his comrades that, in the event a communist takeover was imminent, he would return and help them escape. Edwards took this commitment seriously.

“I knew that I could do something,” Edwards said. “That was my Christian duty.”

Following his return from Vietnam and his release from his active duty, Edwards joined Operational Detachment 212, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 12th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Oklahoma City.

While working as a financial bond advisor, completing a master’s degree and serving in the Special Forces Reserve, Edwards closely monitored the Vietnam War, remaining in touch with his friends.

On January 3, 1975, Edwards suffered a serious injury on a night parachute jump with the Special Forces Unit, fracturing vertebrae in his back. The injuries eventually caused his retirement from the Army.

In March of 1975, South Vietnam was quickly collapsing. The North Vietnamese had started their push to destroy the remaining South Vietnamese military, and vast areas were falling into the Communists’ hands. Many soldiers abandoned their posts and fled in panic. The highways were clogged with columns of tanks, armored personnel carriers, artillery pieces and trucks loaded with soldiers.
Remembering his promises, Edwards planned an emergency return to the war zone to rescue as many as he could.

At his own expense, Edwards flew first to New Orleans where he obtained an expedited passport, flying on to Washington D.C. where he received a visa from the South Vietnamese embassy, then flying to Saigon.

Edwards returned at the very moment that Communist forces were overrunning the country, exposing him to great personal danger.

The South was within weeks of capture and the whole country was in a state of pandemonium.

Further complicating matters, Edwards was in pain throughout his mission. He said his back injury required him to wear a brace, and he was constantly in need of unavailable physical therapy.

Despite his pain, Edwards diligently set about contacting those in harm’s way. Most of Edwards former counterparts were located on the Cambodian border in a province there, where heavy fighting was taking place.

Edwards found and hired a taxi driver who originally agreed to take him to that area.

As they traveled through the countryside, however, there were Communist roadblocks, which barely managed to evade.

When the driver refused to go any further, Edwards produced his only weapon, a pistol and told the shaken man that he had no choice but to continue.

They reached the area where Edwards found his former unit and the individuals whom he had advised. From both that province and Saigon, Edwards rounded up 64 people seeking to escape.

When it was time for Edwards to return to Saigon, however, the taxi had gone. Having no other transportation, Edwards was left with the unbelievable option of taking a public bus through enemy-held territory.

He said was lucky that the Communists caught a Republic of Vietnam officer who was riding a bus shortly behind him and hanged him.

Back in Saigon, Edwards then had to address the problem of how to get the refugees out of the country.

In a misguided effort to keep South Vietnam from collapsing, the US government initially refused to evacuate Vietnamese nationals, and the American ambassador attempted to prevent Vietnamese citizens from leaving.

Edwards was required to not only deal with the Vietnamese onslaught, but he was also hampered by non-cooperation from the American embassy.
Ever determined, Edwards resorted to unconventional tactics to accomplish his plan. He first found a South Vietnamese air force pilot who accepted $25,000 to fly the refugees to Thailand.

At the last minute, however, the US government changed its policy, and Edwards was able to convince the Air Force to devote an airplane to his refugees. Although he never recovered the $25,000 paid to the pilot, he now believes that expenditure was worth it.

Before leaving on one of the last military flights out of Vietnam, Edwards helped all those he could.
Among them were six Vietnamese women, each of whom Edwards “married” before the fall of South Vietnam.

Edwards managed to talk his way into the American embassy where, in the chaos, he found the empty office of an American general who had already been evacuated. He used his fortress to gain access to people who can help him get the refugees out. At one point, he even posed as a congressional staffer.

While in Saigon, Edwards was attacked on the street by an unknown assailant. The incident involved gunfire, and Edwards was shot by the assailant.

Once the refugees reached US soil, Edwards did not abandon them.

In fact, he sponsored more than 200 refugees in Oklahoma, finding them places to live, obtaining jobs, enrolling children in school, acquiring household furnishings, obtaining driver training licenses and automobiles.

The refugees who came to Oklahoma have successfully been part of the state. They have businesses and professions.

In 1998, Ellis and his wife Thao Edwards invited a young teenage girl who had been raised under the Communist regime in Vietnam to live in their home and attend Bishop McGuinness High School in Oklahoma City.

The girl’s mother was unable to support her, and she asked Edwards for help. After a successful semester at McGuinness, Edwards managed to get the girl accepted into the Oklahoma School of Science and Math. Upon high school graduation, she received a full scholarship to Mount Holyoke University, which she finished in three and a half years with double majors.

The summer of 2010, Edwards invited a Vietnamese college student to stay at his house, helping him with acquiring tuition for about a year. The young man went on to St. Bernard’s Seminary and School of Theology. He was ordained June 30, 2018.

“I’ve helped a lot of people, and I gave them (help with a new life in the United States),” he said.

Edwards also helped raise funds from private sources to build a much-needed grade school in Vietnam. He personally ramrodded the project to completion only to hear that the Communists demolished it after his departure.

Thao Edwards said her husband of almost 49 years has a heart of gold. “He’s extraordinary. He can do the things that normal people don’t do,” she said. story by Van Mitchell

Attention Artists: The 2025 National Veterans Day Poster Contest is now open for submissions.

Here’s your opportunity to show off your talent and use your artwork to honor Veterans. VA and the Veterans Day National Committee are now accepting entries for the 2025 Veterans Day Poster Contest. Submissions are due by 11:59 p.m. (EDT) on May 2, 2025.

This contest is open to all, and your art should reflect this year’s theme: “Service to our Nation.”

After receiving more than 150 entries last year, Myisha Godette, a retired, disabled Army Veteran from Queens, New York, was selected as the winner of the 2024 contest. In describing her design, Myisha’s inspiration was “the shared experience of service members—past, present and future—with elements like the American Flag, military “dog tags,” and the enduring strength of Veterans, embodied by a solid, dark concrete background in my design.”

The winning poster will be distributed to VA facilities, military installations worldwide, and across cities and towns in our nation. It will also serve as the cover of the official program for the Veterans Day National Observance at Arlington National Cemetery on Nov. 11, 2025.

To ensure your submission meets the technical requirements, please review our design submission guidelines before engaging your creativity. Successful designs are very simple, with minimal imagery and verbiage. To view examples of past winning submissions, visit The Veterans Day Poster Gallery.

Submit electronic versions as jpg/jpeg images or PDF files to vetsday@va.gov. Questions? Please email the Veterans Day Coordinator at vetsday@va.gov.