Red Rock gala to aid wounded veterans
Like the troops who serve the country, volunteers from the nonprofit Nevada Military Support Alliance serve soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen when they return from fighting the nation’s wars.
Through its fundraising efforts, such as the gala set for May 11 at Red Rock Resort, the alliance has built homes for wounded warriors and was a major force in sending 35 World War II veterans from Southern Nevada to Washington, D.C., today aboard Southwest Airlines Honor Flight Nevada.
“It’s a wonderful program to honor those who have served America,” said Joe W. Brown, a Las Vegas attorney and alliance vice chairman. “A lot of them can’t afford to go back to see the World War II memorial. (The gala) is a chance for the people of Nevada to show how much their service is appreciated then and now.”
In March, the alliance paid for three Reno police officers who served in the Marines to travel to North Carolina to attend a memorial service for the seven Marines who were killed in a mortar training accident that month at Hawthorne Army Depot.
Also in March in Hawthorne, the alliance handed over the keys to a new home to Army Sgt. Tim Hall, who lost both legs three years ago in a mortar attack in Afghanistan. Hall’s new home was constructed to meet his special needs and was funded in large part by a $250,000 gift from the alliance.
Brown said the goal of the upcoming gala is to raise about
10 percent of the funds for a “Fisher House” residence in Las Vegas where families of wounded veterans can stay while patients receive treatment at Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities.
He said it will take about
$6 million to fund the Fisher House or about three times more than the organization — first known as the Nevada Patriot Fund — raised statewide over the past decade to help families of Nevada military personnel who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He hopes the keynote speaker, retired Army Gen. Bryan “Doug” Brown, will draw more donations. Tickets for the dinner are $250 a seat or $2,500 for a table. A “four-star” individual or corporate sponsorship is $25,000.
Brown rose through the ranks from an infantry private in 1967 to commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command from 2003 to 2007. During his 40-year Army career, he became a helicopter pilot and served in combat in the Vietnam War, the invasion of Grenada, the Gulf War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“He’s a very eloquent speaker who talks from his experience,” Joe Brown said.
For more information about the event, visit www.nvmilitarysupport.org or call 702-701-4167.
Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.
