A MEDAL for WWII veteran Louis Moore. A SALUTE for Army veteran Gwendolyn Thornton. A TOAST for late Marine veteran Jerry Lawrence and the other AV veterans who passed since the 2019 Veterans Military Ball.
WWII veteran Lou Moore was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his service. The award was authorized by Congress for Chinese-American veterans of World War II. Similar Congressional Gold Medals for service have been awarded to the Tuskegee Airmen, Japanese-American WWII veterans, Navajo Code Talkers, and Women’s Air Service Pilots, women who volunteered for flight service to free men up for combat flying duty.
The award was presented to Moore this week by Maj. Gen. Robert B.F. Lee and Mr. Moore’s representative in Congress, Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita.
Also honored at the Veterans Military Ball hosted by Coffee4Vets was Army veteran Gwendolyn Thornton of the state Employment Development Department. Thornton has worked tirelessly for years to place veterans, many with disabilities, in “real jobs, good paying jobs.”
Also saluted was Marine vet Jerry Lawrence who died in 2020 as the pandemic lockdown began. Lawrence innovated the “You Are Not Forgotten” program to honor veterans at end of life. Because of Covid restrictions Lawrence himself could not be properly memorialized until this week of Veterans Day 2021.
Top Tier sponsors at Hellenic Center were High Desert Medical, Group Team Boeing, and City of Palmdale.
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