The document announces an upcoming "Celebrating Freedom & Honoring Service" Armed Forces Day Banquet to be held on May 16, 2015 in Kansas City, Missouri. The event at the Kansas City Convention Center Grand Ballroom aims to honor members of the US military and their families. It will include speakers, entertainers, and a dinner catered by PB&J Catering. Organizer Jack Barnes hopes the event will help attendees understand and appreciate the commitment and sacrifice of the US armed forces.

1. News Release
Tuesday, December 17, 2014
Contact:
Jack R. Barnes, American Fallen Warrior Memorial Foundation, 806-681-1418, jack@afwmf.org
“Celebrating Freedom & Honoring Service” Armed Forces Day Banquet
Coming to Kansas City, Missouri on Saturday, May 16, 2015
KC Convention Center Grand Ballroom to Host Patriotic Night Honoring All Who Serve
Kansas City, MO (December 17, 2014) – On Armed Forces Day – the United States of America honors
the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen who render the highest service any
American can offer. National observances are traditionally held on the third Saturday of May.
Capturing that same spirit, Kansas City is showing its appreciation of the nation’s military might on
Saturday, May 16, 2015 by hosting the first-ever “Celebrating Freedom & Honoring Service” Armed
Forces Day Banquet. This patriotic assemblage will take place at the Kansas City Convention Center,
Grand Ballroom, in Kansas City, MO. Military active personnel, reservists, veterans and their families,
and the families of our fallen heroes will receive FREE admission with an RSVP.
The evening’s festivities commence at 6:00 p.m. Seating capacity is limited to 2,500. The general public
is cordially invited to attend and extend the gratitude of a grateful nation to all military members
present and those on assignment around the world.
For ticket information and updates, please visit www.celebrateandhonor.org or contact
info@celebrateandhonor.org.
“As the War on Terror continues, we have the privilege, duty, and obligation to honor those who serve
and sacrifice for our great country as members of the United States military,” proclaims event organizer
Jack Barnes, Retired U.S. Navy. “Armed Forces Day is their day. We need broad-based patriotic support
for this event from all citizens, and the business and corporate community, to appropriately honor all
who serve, their families, and the families of our fallen heroes.”
According to Barnes – an Armed Forces Day Banquet has never been done before in Kansas City. It will
deliver a memorable evening of appetizing food from PB&J Catering, stirring presentations, live
entertainment, and flowing tears. The lineup of speakers and entertainers currently includes:

2. • Master of Ceremonies – John Holt, Fox 4 News KC
• Featured Speakers:
o Donald “Doc” Ballard – Colonel, Kansas Army National Guard Retired, Medal of
Honor Recipient
o Rex Pratt – Director/Producer of “Warriors In Their Own Words”
o Ilario Pantano – Director, North Carolina Division of Veteran Affairs
o John West, Community & Charitable Programs, ALON Brand dba 7-Eleven
• Entertainers:
o Steve Amerson – America’s Tenor, “Amazed by America”
o Nathan Osmond – “Stars and Stripes”
• Special Presentations:
o George Lutz – Honor & Remember
o Phil Taylor – The American Fallen Soldiers Project
“After the banquet, we want attendees walking away with a sense and understanding of the
commitment, sacrifice, and honor our finest men and women have toward serving our nation in
uniform,” adds Barnes. “The price of freedom isn’t free. Every veteran, and the loving families who
supported them and feared daily for them, already understand. It’s a very personal decision for an
individual to serve a higher cause than themselves regardless of the outcome to them personally.”
Presidential and Historical Chatter Addressing Armed Forces Day:
• “Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be
repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. America will never forget their sacrifice. “
Harry S. Truman – Address to Joint Session of Congress, April 16, 1945
• On August 31, 1949, United States Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson announced the
creation of an Armed Forces Day to replace separate Army, Navy, and Air Force Days. The
single-day celebration stemmed from the unification of the Armed Forces under one
department – the Department of Defense.
• “Armed Forces Day, Saturday, May 20, 1950, marks the first combined demonstration by
America’s defense team of its progress, under the National Security Act, towards to goal of
readiness for any eventuality. It is the first parade of preparedness by the united forces of
our land, sea, and air defense.”
Harry S. Truman – Presidential Proclamation, February 27, 1950
• There were several other purposes for holding Armed Forces Day. It was a type of
“educational program for civilians,” one in which there would be an increased awareness of
the Armed Forces. It was designed to expand public understanding of what type of job is
performed and the role of the military in civilian life. It was a day for the military to
showcase “state-of-the-art” equipment to the civilian population they were protecting.
• “I also request my fellow citizens to display the flag of the United States on Armed Forces
Day, and by fitting exercises to demonstrate their recognition of the gallantry, sacrifice, and
devotion to duty of the men and women of the armed forces.”
Harry S. Truman – Presidential Proclamation, April 2, 1951

3. • “This is a day on which we have the welcome opportunity to pay special tribute to the men
and women of the Armed Forces……..to all the individuals who are in the service of their
country all over the world. Armed Forces Day won’t be a matter of parades and receptions
for a good many of them. They will all be in the line of duty and some of them may give their
lives in that duty.”
New York Times article published on May 17, 1952
• “It is fitting and proper that we devote one day each year to paying special tribute to those
whose constancy and courage constitute one of the bulwarks guarding the freedom of this
nation and the peace of the free world.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower – Presidential Proclamation, 1953
• Our Armed Forces and our national defense system represent a judicious investment of the
nation’s resources in the cause of peace. The return on this investment, in terms of national
strength, shows the determination of the American people to preserve our way of life and
to give hope to all who seek peace with freedom and justice.”
Neil McElroy – Former Secretary of Defense, 1959
• “The support of an informed American people is increasingly important to the Armed Forces
in these day of rapid technology advance, quick reaction time, and grave threat to our
freedom.”
Robert S. McNamara – Former Secretary of Defense, 1962
• “Our Servicemen and women are serving throughout the world as guardians of peace –
many of them away from their homes, their friends, and their families. They are visible
evidence of our determination to meet any threat to the peace with measured strength and
high resolve. They are also evidence of a harsh but inescapable truth – that the survival of
freedom requires great cost and commitment, and great personal sacrifice.”
John F. Kennedy – Presidential Proclamation, 1963
• “Armed Forces Day, above all, honors the dedicated individuals who wear the uniforms of
their country. Each serviceman, wherever he may be, whatever his task, contributes directly
and importantly to the defense of the nation. The task of each one is the task of all the
Armed Forces: to protect the freedoms which underlie the greatness of America.”
Melvin Laird – Former Secretary of Defense, 1970
• “It is our obligation to ensure our troops have all they need to complete their missions
abroad, but we must also support them when they return home. We must care for the
families who serve alongside them and fulfill our promises today, tomorrow, and forever.
And we must demonstrate our thanks by building a Nation worthy of their sacrifices, a
Nation that lives up to our founding ideals and allows every citizen to write their chapter of
the American story. I urge citizens to learn more about military service by attending and
participating in the local observances of Armed Forces Day.”
Barack H. Obama – Presidential Proclamation, May 16, 2014
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