With the arrival of the holiday season, organizations around the nation are making sure military veterans take part in the festive spirit. At St. Mary on the Hill in Augusta, Georgia on Thursday, dozens of hospitalized veterans were treated to a Christmas dinner – complete with red, white and blue iced cake – by Ancient Order of Hibernia, the oldest Irish-Catholic organization in the country.
"With everything these veterans have done for our country, this is the absolute least we can do," Michael Ramp, president of Richmond County's branch of Ancient Order of Hibernia, told The Augusta Chronicle. "It truly is a pleasure to spend part of the holiday season with these heroes."
Many of the attending veterans were from other states, but residing in the Georgia War Veterans Nursing Home or Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, where it was hard for family members to spend more than a few days with them.
John Joe, a VA recreation therapist, said that the veterans appreciated the attention. "This night means the world to our veterans. So many of these veterans are away from home and simply don't get this same kind of camaraderie at the hospital."
Veterans hundreds of miles away in Chicago felt the same way. At the Greater Chicago Food Depository – which established a food pantry at the Edward Hines Veterans Administration building in 2014 – requests for help from veterans were heard loud and clear.
"I ain't got no job," Cedrick Pipes told ABC 7. "I'm unemployed and I got to eat. And they got real good food here and it helps me."
Chicago's food bank, like Augusta's Christmas dinner, reminds veterans that their fellow countrymen still care about them in their life after service.
"Mostly I do it because I have a friend, he's a Korean veteran, and he can't get around," said Stefan Cipot of the 101st. "His car burned down last year and so we're helping him out."