Description

The Mobile Bay Area Veterans  Commission invites you and your organization to participate in the annual Veterans Day Honors Luncheon to recognize the Patriot of the Year and the Veteran of the Year on Monday, November 11, 2024.

Recognition of Veterans by the citizens of the Mobile Bay Area is a time-honored tradition and participation by service personnel, veterans, and private citizens is visible proof of that.

The Luncheon follows the Veterans Day Parade and will be held at Ft. Whiting Armory, 1630 S. Broad St., beginning at noon.

Mobile Bay Veterans Commission History

The Mobile Bay Area Veterans Commission was organized in 1986 with the purpose of energizing the area’s Veterans Day commemoration. The organizers were Admiral J. Lloyd “Doc” Abbot, USN (Ret.), Admiral Bill Stewart, USCG (Ret.), Captain Hal Pierce, USN (Ret.), and Lieutenant Colonel Vince Schiavoni, USAF (Ret.). The Mayor of Mobile was invited to be Chairman of the Commission and other distinguished military officers and civilians of the area were also invited to be part of the Commission. The Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce CEO was also invited to be on the board and the Chamber was involved with it from the very beginning. Their plan was to have a Veterans Day parade through downtown Mobile and to have an Honors Luncheon where a Patriot of the Year would be recognized. That recognition was to be the highlight of the Veterans Day observance. Today, the award is presented at the luncheon where a nationally recognized patriot is honored.

Since 1997, a Veteran of the Year has been selected and also recognized at the Honors Luncheon. The Veterans Day Observance now includes the Parade of Flags ceremony in the afternoon and a patriotic concert in the evening presented by the Mobile Pops Orchestra, both at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park Medal of Honor Pavilion.

Since 2001, at the Patriot Dinner, on the evening before Veterans Day, the Commission has recognized one or more Mobile Bay Area citizens who have supported our veterans and veteran causes by presenting them with the President’s Award. In 2021, the name of that award was changed to the Captain Hal Pierce Memorial Award. The Commission also recognizes two outstanding ROTC cadets from the University of South Alabama ROTC Program.