Mesquite Chamber Luncheon Honors Vets

By BOBBIE GREEN

The Progress

The Mesquite Chamber of Commerce honored local veterans at a luncheon held Wednesday, Nov. 10 at the Casablanca Resort.

Carol Kolson, President/CEO welcomed the 31 veterans who attended the event.

“We are so pleased to see so many Mesquite veterans here so that the community can thank them today for their service to our country,” Kolson said.

Chamber members attending the luncheon were encouraged to invite a veteran or two to be their guests at this annual luncheon. Each veteran was given a swag bag with donations from local merchants as they departed.

Veteran attendees enjoyed the event and the recognition. “This is genuinely nice of the Chamber to have this recognition for the veterans,” said local veteran Don Yeager who had been invited to the luncheon. “Not all of our citizens show respect for our veterans.”

The speaker at the luncheon was the recently retired commander of Nellis Air Frce Base, Brigadier General Robert G Novotny. Novotny said his retirement was so recent that this is his first speaking engagement as a civilian.

Novotny updated the audience with his takeaways on the potential dangers to America from China and North Korea. He showed a slide presentation with current photos of China’s army doing American military-style drills and comparable photos of military airplanes and equipment. The Veterans in the audience found the presentation to be of great interest.

“Allies in the region will hedge if America is unreliable,” Novotny said. “Japan goes nuclear, South Korea goes Nuclear and India/Pakistan conflict Vietnam.”
Novotny also stated that defense spending does not always correlate to readiness.

Kolson said that this annual luncheon grows each year in size and popularity.
“We were honored to have Retired Brigadier General Robert Novotny be our featured speaker today,” Kolson said. “We thank many of our members who generously donated swag bag items and raffle prizes for the Veterans and guests. We will also be delivering swag bags to Mesa View Estates and Beehive Homes.”