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State veterans honored in joint session of Legislature

Tulsa World - 3/28/2017

OKLAHOMA CITY - Lawmakers assembled in a joint session on Monday to honor the state's veterans.

"Everyone here today has a family member or friend who served in the military," said House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka.

"Many (legislative) members are veterans. Some have lost a family member or friend to combat and war.

"One thing we can all agree on is our active-duty military men and women and veterans deserve the best we can offer."

McCall said the state has about 336,000 veterans - men and women who placed the security of their neighbors and fellow citizens above their own.

He also said the spouses, children and family members are unsung heroes. Although they may not have worn a uniform, they made personal sacrifices for those who did, McCall said.

Oklahoma Secretary for Veterans Affairs Myles Deering said veterans' families endured the aftermath of their service through physical and emotional scars deep inside their souls.

Deering has 43 years of military service. He is the former adjutant general for the Oklahoma National Guard and secretary of the military.

Senate President Pro Tem Mike Schulz, R-Altus, said he comes from the home of Altus Air Force Base.

"Thank you for doing what you have done and continue to do because what you have done allows me to do what I get to do every day," he said.

Schulz said he has watched as men and women stationed at the base are deployed and knows the sacrifices they make.

Altus is blessed to have veterans who chose to retire in the community because they make it a better place to live, he said.

Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb, who presided over the joint session, grew up in Enid, home to Vance Air Force Base.

His father, Norman Lamb, is the former Oklahoma secretary of veterans affairs.

Lamb said that growing up in Enid it was common to see jets fly over the community and see men and women in military uniforms in church and around town. It was something he thought happened everywhere, he said.

After leaving home, he learned that his childhood experience was not common.

"It is rare and unique for a man or woman to volunteer and say, 'I will stand in the gap and I will protect those that I have never met,'" Lamb said.

Lamb told the chamber full of veterans that he had never heard them say they were serving on behalf of Republicans or Democrats.

"You did it to protect freedom and liberty with no questions asked," Lamb said.