Veterans Day Celebration Slated for November 10; Event to Coincide with Heart Walk
On Saturday, November 10, the City of Lake Charles Mayor’s Armed Forces Commission will host the City’s annual Veterans Day observance at the Arcade Amphitheater on the Lakefront. Several new activities have been added to the event to attract a larger audience, and a new venue has been selected to accommodate a concert by the Lake Charles Community Band.
This year’s event will follow the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk, which begins at 8 a.m. Health screenings and vendor booths will be setup near the amphitheater. Following the Heart Walk, participants will return to the amphitheater for family activities and demonstrations, a variety of food trucks, as well as a Kids Zone provided by the City’s Recreation and Parks Department.
The formal ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. The guest speaker will be Colonel Lee Burnett, Commander of the 115th Combat Support Hospital (CSH). Colonel Burnett graduated from UC Davis for undergrad and from Western University of Health Sciences for medical school. His first assignment was the 396th CSH. He deployed to Iraq in 2005 with the 344th CSH and again in 2008 with the 345th CSH. He later served in Afghanistan in 2012 with 4/82D. His last duty station was 121st CSH/Brian Allgood Army Community Hospital, Korea.
Heather Partin will be the Master of Ceremonies, and the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit in Lake Charles will present colors. This year’s event will pay special recognition to all Southwest Louisiana veterans. The ceremony will feature multiple performances by the Lake Charles Community Band. Selections include “Land of Liberty,” “National Emblem March,” and “American Fanfare” among others. Following the ceremony, a special pinning ceremony is planned for Vietnam War veterans.
The Veterans Day observance is sponsored by Acadian Ambulance Services, Billy Navarre Auto, Calcasieu Refining, Coca-Cola, Ferrara Fire Apparatus, Johnson’s Funeral Home, Stine Lumber, Suddenlink, and Lu Creager, Realtor/PCS Team LC (Moffett, Latter & Blum). For more information, please call 491-9159.