American Valor Quarterly Issue 9 - Summer 2012 | Page 4

The American Veterans Center’s
14th Annual Conference
“Celebrate Veterans Day in the Company of Heroes”
is the slogan of the American Veterans Center’s Annual
Conference. From November 3-5, 2011, the Center
held its 14th Annual Conference, bringing together
some of America’s most distinguished and decorated
veterans, where they shared their experiences with an
audience of hundreds of JROTC and ROTC students,
West Point and Air Foce Academy Cadets and Naval
Academy Midshipmen, active duty military, and fellow
veterans. It was the Center’s largest conference to date,
providing all who attended with a weekend they would
never forget.

The conference kicked off with a very special event featuring the stories of several young service members wounded
in the line of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Wounded
Warrior Experience was hosted by Jennifer Griffin of Fox
News Channel, and was filmed for broadcast to our troops
around the world on The Pentagon Channel on and around
Veterans Day.
The program contains valuable resources for military personnel and veterans dealing with physical injuries, or often
unseen mental and emotional injuries such as post-traumatic
stress. We were proud to have the support of Miltiary Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation as the presenting sponsor of the program.

Pictured above, Jennifer Griffin speaks to a panel of wounded
warriors about steps they have taken to overcome their injuries. Seated next to Jennifer is Colonel Gregory Gadson, head
of the Army’s wounded warrior program Both young men
were wounded in action, and have been learning to adapt
following the loss of limbs, a common injury in today’s world
of improvised explosive devices. They are joined by Chuck
Lear, a wounded warrior from the Vietnam War and expert
archer, representing Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation.
Pictured right, Colonel Gadson meets with several students
from the Young Marines program following the event.

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