On behalf of our VII Corps Desert Storm Association Board and the President of our Association, COL (RET) Mark Rado, my wife Denise and I want to wish all our VII Corps Desert Storm Veterans and your Families all the very best this Veterans Day 2017 and every day. We commemorate 27 years from 8 November 1990 when we received a no notice order to deploy to Saudia Arabia, then our rapid 250 kilometers 89 hour attack as part of the Coalition 24-28 February 1991, that liberated Kuwait. We did all that as a team. Thank you for your courageous and selfless service to our Nation in accomplishing all that in VII Corps with the greatest skill gained from our training, and your courage, discipline, teamwork, and yes, sacrifice, during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Our grateful appreciation as well to our Families who served with their own brand of courage, those in the USA, UK, and those staying in already forward deployed locations in Germany. You all made a difference when it counted. We also honor and remember, as we do at our annual Reunion Memorial Service by individual name each year, the sacrifice of those of VII Corps who in Lincoln’s words, ‘gave that last full measure of devotion’ and their Families who endure the pain of their loss. I value our wartime service together with all of you and remain honored to have been your commander as Denise values the invaluable Family contributions at home. We both continue to treasure the friendships over these 27 years.
We honor on this Veterans Day, this special day in America, now in this special commemorative month, all those who selflessly served our Nation and what we stand for. We also honor those who serve today, those around the world, many daily in combat, who stand between the evil out there and all the rest of us, just as all of you did with your own service in VII Corps during Desert Storm and beyond, many in this current war.
We will have our 27th Annual Reunion this year at Ft. Hood, Texas, continuing now locating our Reunion around our Nation. Most scheduled activities to include visits with Soldiers serving today and equipment, lunch in a Soldier dining hall, our annual Memorial Service honoring our Fallen and their Families, and our Reunion Dinner are on Saturday 24 February 2017. Details are listed on our VII Corps DSVA website to include an opportunity to sign up to attend. We hope to see you at our 27th Reunion.
JAYHAWK!
Fred M. Franks
General, US Army (retired)
Chairman, VII Corps DSVA Board of Directors
