San Antonio Wrap-up
San Antonio, AKA "Military City USA", as I heard it called by more than one person, enjoyed a very successful Veterans Day event, hosted by Soldiers' Angels, in partnership with Operation Homefront, Mission Serve and Bank of America. San Antonio is home to several Air Force bases, Fort Sam Houston, and a host of other military installations, and as such was a natural location for this event. To say it was well-attended would be an understatement. Soldiers' Angels' large and very well-equipped facility, part museum, part permanent care package assembly and shipping center, was full to capacity and then some. Despite the crowd, all elements of the event were very smooth, and appropriately focused on veterans, both in attendance, and not. 100+ wounded warriors received new laptops, and more than 50 Bank of America associates spent their days off energetically assembling 5 towering palletfuls of care packages, containing coffee, books, blankets, pocket flags and handwritten messages of encouragement and support, with which several full-sized laundry bins were full. Representatives of all partner organizations expressed enthusiasm and interest in working on similar events in the future, and given both this week's success, and the healthy military and civilian presence in San Antonio, it would be a great thing to carry forward on Veterans Day 2011 and beyond. I learned a great deal, and was very impressed by both the organizations' cooperation and the participants' sincere dedication. Congratulations to everyone on what, judging by the accounts from around the country, was a resounding triumph!Jamie
