For five consecutive years our Assembly has stepped forward to do something to honor our veterans on Veterans Day.   We took time to honor our serving military by doing something very special for our wounded warriors.  This group has a larger number of amputees than earlier conflicts.

They have returned home from the battlefield to receive rehabilitation training and prosthetics.  This is an amazing group of proud men and women.  They are eager to return to normal and many want to return to duty!  But, they are assigned to hospitals and rehab and would not normally have the funds to go home for Christmas.  We changed that!

The Knights of the Fourth Degree, Desoto Province (North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Puerto Rico), jointly use this time of year to raise money to send our local North Carolina amputees home for Christmas.  This includes both Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune soldiers, sailors, and marines.  We do this by working with the Military Order of the Purple Heart.  They provide matching funds and ensure the vets get taken care of.

Last year the Desoto Province worked to help send 303 warriors home by mid-December. Then, 60 more flew in with 17 war dead.  It was December 15th.  Our Knights and the Military Order of the Purple Heart met the challenge and quickly raised enough money to include these 60 vets!

We are humbled and honored to perform this service as part of our ministry.  Our Assembly raised $5,125.56.  We thank the members of our assembly and the parishes of St. Thomas More and Holy Cross in Durham for their deep pockets and warm hearts.

Watch this video to see just what a difference we are making by seeing our hospitalized veterans return to normal through rehab.  You are sure to agree, they deserve it!  Remember, it is not too early to start filling a coin jar for next year’s drive.