CLAYTON — The local organization VALOR (Veterans and Loved Ones Resources) was born from a growing community of veterans, their loved ones and community partners coming together to support each other.
VALOR officially formed in August 2024. The nonprofit organization houses two programs — a series of breakfasts that bring veterans together for fellowship and an annual tribute to veterans who have been lost to suicide.
The breakfasts happen every month in multiple locations to provide veterans with a sense of community and a warm meal to eat. The organization provided over 300 meals in just the last month.
The group also organizes “The Ongoing Cost of War,” a display in which 22 flags and lights are put out every day in September as a visual reminder of how many veterans have been lost due to suicide.
This will be the group’s fourth year setting up flags at the village park in Clayton.
The public is invited to join the group on Tuesday nights in September from 6-9 p.m. at the Clayton Village park to see the flag display as it grows, in addition to enjoying a bonfire, hot dogs, s’mores, and an opportunity for veterans to discover a sense of community and learn about available resources.
Other communities joining in with their own displays include Hudson, Adrian, Tecumseh, Hillsdale, and Perrysburg, Ohio.
For more information, go to ongoingvalor.com.
The following letter was written by an area veteran about the experience of attending VALOR’s community meals:
“I found out about the VALOR gatherings just recently and was pleasantly surprised to find a lunch room full of classmates about the same age with shared experiences and outlooks. I say ‘classmates’ because we all graduated as professional veterans through the different military branches, but with the same goals, training and beliefs. For many of us just out of high school or in our early 20s this was our first time leaving our home state and for many, our country.
“We all were put into life and death situations almost immediately. How we dealt with those and survived formed the foundations of our young lives. Those stories are worth hearing over and over.
“Many of us were lucky to visit foreign countries. Some were peaceful, others had raging wars. From the peaceful countries I learned respect, family honor and cultural amazement. For the countries at war that I experienced, it was more complicated. The power — the government, controlling those countries had the same agenda as every preceding tyrant through history: take the land, suppress the people, spread their doctrine. From this experience I had a lot of ‘what’s, whys and whens.’ A lot to digest in a short, hectic amount of time. This made the return home all the more welcome, valued and emotional. I enjoy talking to new friends at the breakfast meetings about their experiences in their different branches of service. Oddly enough we all have some humorous tales to relate. I also think about those foreign countries — those that experienced the horrors of war 60 years ago. If you are lucky enough to travel back there on a vacation — and look — you’ll still see some respect, family honor and cultures embracing peace. I like to think the lunchroom classmates did their job well — exceedingly well.
— Rich Katuzin, USN Attack Squadron 65 (VA-65)
