By Vicki Prichard
NKyTribune reporter
Billy Helton suffered numerous injuries while serving in Afghanistan — injuries to his back, knees and arm; injuries that came years after the Army veteran from California, KY had already seen multiple deployments to Iraq, Bosnia and Kosovo.
Helton, whose father is a Marine veteran, says service was “phenomenal” for him.
“I loved it. My dad was Marine Corps so I was born and raised in kind of a rules and guidelines-type style all my life, so going to the Army wasn’t really much of a change,” he says.
This week, and every day, really, Helton continues to serve the veterans that are so important to him.
On Thursday, which was the 241st birthday of the Marine Corps, and the day before Veterans Day, Helton, along with a team of his co-workers at Disabled American Veterans National Headquarters (DAV) in Cold Spring, were on hand at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center’s Fort Thomas, Domiciliary Division to serve a tasty lunch in honor of Veterans Day to local veterans.
“This year I get to proudly thank veterans and Marines on their birthday,” says Helton.
Helton, who has been participating in the annual event for the last three years when he began working with DAV, says they generally serve between 150 to 200 veterans.
I’m hoping to see a little bit more as the word gets out because we do this every year for veterans,” says Helton.
All generations of veterans gather around the tables for the meal.
“We’ll have fresh vets, right out of service, to vets that were serving well before I was around,” he says.
Applebee’s restaurants provide the food for the event.
“It lets them know how much other people care and that they do have friends out there that understand and have compassion for them,” says Hall. “A lot of the folks that come here, they’ve had a lot of struggles in life, a lot of doors slammed in their face.”
Hall says the programs they have at the VA — for homeless veterans, substance abuse, ptsd and traumatic brain injury — help veterans turn a corner.
“It’s an opportunity for a fresh start,” he says.
