Dubois County Veterans Organizations to Host Military Rally Saturday

Dubois Co. - The Dubois County Veteran's Office, partnering with Brothers for Veterans and the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs, has announced an upcoming Veterans rally for October 30th.

An idea that started with a narrow focus has expanded into a county-wide effort. The purpose - to connect and network area veterans. With Veterans Day upcoming and the recent pullout of Afghanistan and the 9/11 20th anniversary, Veterans organizations are hoping to remind veterans that Dubois County supports them, to better connect them with one another, and to introduce resources available to them.

Veterans Services Officer Gary Love and Luke Bawel with Brothers for Veterans explained the formation of the upcoming rally.

"Originally our thoughts were - with the wake of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, and the pullout of Afghanistan, especially with Afghanistan Veterans, a lot of, probably, anger, anxiety, depression..." Love said. "'Let's get together' - and it kind of grew from there."

The rally will be equal parts networking and connecting Veterans with services, Bawel says.

"The big piece of it is we wanted to try and figure out a good way to network these folks," Bawel said. "Networking these folks, and letting them know that they've got resources here locally and that we care about our heroes."

The October 30th event will take place from noon to 3:00 p.m. at the Jasper Nation Guard Armory with 11 local Veterans organizations. The list is long with organizations scheduled to be in attendance: VA Healthcare/Community Care, LifeSpring Health Systems, Vet2Vet, Vincennes University-Jasper Center, University of Southern Indiana, Hometown Hiring, WorkOne, and the Office of U.S. Senator Mike Braun.

While the term 'rally' may evoke the conception of marches or political statements, the Veterans rally is anything but, say Love and Bawel.

"You hear 'rally', it's not what you think it is," Love said. "You could really look at it as kind of a resource or benefits fair. There's been job fairs, career fairs, and this is something that we want to continue to do annually... The rally will continue to be a way to connect people with resources."

The first Dubois County Veterans Rally will take place on October 30th from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Jasper National Guard Armory.