Jacksonville area veterans and their families gathered in Community Park to celebrate and remember all of those who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces yesterday.
The crowd gathered at the Korean War Monument and heard from U.S. Navy veteran and Jacksonville native Rabbi Rob Thomas give the keynote address.
Thomas, who served as a U.S. Navy hospital corpsman who specialized in treating injuries for U.S. Marines – known as a “devil doc,” says that he has one simple message from his time in the military: “What I really wanted to drive home is something I learned when I served, which is average people, everyday people can come together and form outstanding teams with amazing results. That’s true whether you’re in the military or your a civilian. That’s an important lesson, especially for today.”
Rabbi Rob says he was excited and surprised when he got the invitation to be the keynote speaker in front of his hometown, something he says was an honor and privilege. He says that he has one more message to those who are taking a moment to remember veterans: “I would say to anyone that isn’t a veteran or who doesn’t have one in your near family, reach out to the veterans’ organizations – AMVETS, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, any one of those groups – ask to meet with a veteran, ask to have a veteran sit down with you over coffee so that you can learn the definition of ‘team’ and realize that is within you as well.”