RICHFIELD, Minn. — Ahead of Veterans Day on Saturday, StrategicSource, Inc. hosted its eleventh annual Veterans Day lunch Friday at VFW Post 5555, the Richfield VFW.
"We did it in our office in Bloomington for about six years," the company's CEO, Doug Austin, explained. "Now we're filling this [venue] up, but our whole objective is to say thank you to the veterans."
A veteran himself, Austin served in the Marine Corps.
"I was there for the evacuation of Vietnam in '75," he said. "Never saw combat."
For a large portion of the lunch, Austin passed the mic around the room, giving every veteran the opportunity to speak. Nearly all of them did.
"I got discharged in 1952," one of the veterans said.
"Every day, I saw these fishermen way out in the boat," shared another.
Dozens of veterans were in attendance, and Austin said their service dates back to conflicts in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and skirmishes in between.
"My brother Louie who was in the Navy for a while, he died of Agent Orange. So I, it's uncomfortable for me," another one of the attendees said.
Some of the veterans took the opportunity to talk about challenges they face, like PTSD, while others made sure to point out resources like the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans.
"Housing or hotel vouchers or things like that," Austin said. "So, if we run into a vet that's homeless or maybe lost their lease or getting divorced, we've got a resource that can help keep them off the streets … The whole idea with the veterans, especially the Marine Corps is to take care of your own."
The Marines are the other reason for the Friday gathering.
"November 10th is the Marine Corps birthday … so we celebrate those two in tandem," Austin said.
The Marine Corps is now 248 years old. Per tradition, the eldest and the youngest marines in the room shared the honor of using a sword to cut the cake and take the first bites. The eldest, who recalled once getting trained to use a telephone, was 99 years old. The youngest, who served 2011-2020, was in her 30s.
"Marines will be celebrating in bars late into the night and then we get ready to, in the next couple of weeks, we move into Toys for Tots," Austin said. "We get all that stuff loaded up, we bring it over to KARE 11 and then from there we go and have lunch and celebrate."
Austin says his company will be holding a toy shopping contest and will match employee contributions.
The U.S. Marine Corps' annual Toys for Tots campaign runs Nov. 27 – Dec. 13. The collection tent at KARE 11's studios will be open daily from 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
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