The state has unveiled a new set of commemorative license plates to honor veterans who have served in wars.

Six new plates are available – for veterans of World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the Iraq War and the current war in Afghanistan.   Each plate features a medal of honor issued for each war.

Read more here.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Ray Vivier had been an adventurer, a Marine veteran who explored the country from South Carolina to Alaska, the father of five children.

The 61-year-old also was a man starting to get his life back together after living for years in a shanty beneath a Cleveland bridge. He had struggled with alcoholism, but by November he had a welding job, friends and a place to stay at a boarding house.

He rescued five people from that house when arsonists set it ablaze – but Vivier couldn’t save himself. He and three others died, and two people have been charged in their deaths. Vivier’s body, unclaimed and unidentified for weeks, seemed destined for an anonymous, modest burial.

However, Jody Fesco – who met Vivier while she was volunteering at a soup kitchen and had even invited him to her wedding – heard that Vivier may have died. Fesco and her husband contacted their friend Haraz Ghanbari, an Associated Press photographer, about the situation. Ghanbari took the lead to make sure Vivier wasn’t forgotten, tracking down the family members and arranging a proper funeral.

Read the entire story here.

NMAW will be holding their annual Open House the weekend of August 21st and 22nd.  You can register now by clicking here.

You can support the effort of sending letters to our troops.

Letters To Soldiers is a volunteer program of Save A Dog & Kids Inc. 501c3 since 1999 sending letters, care packages and support to our troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and a hospital in Kuwait.

Visit their web site to learn more.

www.letterstosoldiers.org

The headline promises Rockwall County’s planned veterans memorial will be “completely modern and new in every way.”

The date on the yellowed newsprint is March 2, 1945, the name of the newspaper has been lost to history and that memorial never happened.

But things have changed. The news now is that Rockwall County finally will have a place to honor its vets.

“The community is excited,” said Lee Gilbert, a Vietnam veteran, past commander of the Rockwall County American Legion and a member of the county’s memorial committee. “I haven’t heard from anyone who wasn’t supportive.”

County commissioners have set aside $500,000 for the project – apart from the budget for the new courthouse – and asked for design proposals. Ten came in before the Dec. 8 deadline.

Read the whole story here.