Anchorage, Alaska (KINY) – U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski honored Alaska WWII Veteran Harry Olivas for his service with several campaign medals during an impromptu ceremony.
Mr. Olivas was part of the 10th anniversary of the Last Frontier Honor Flight, where a group of 21 Alaska-based veterans and their chaperones traveled to Washington, DC to visit the national memorials which are dedicated in honor of the wartime service and sacrifice of our veterans.
To honor Alaska’s Veterans, Senator Murkowski is spotlighting Veterans from around the state through the Library of Congress Veterans History Project. Her first spotlight is Emmet Heidemann, who served in the Korean War. You can view his interview here.
“I want to share my appreciation, and my thanks for all who have served our great nation,” Senator Murkowski said. “To Alaska’s veterans, and to all of our veterans: Thank you for your service. We honor you on this Veterans Day.”
Senator Dan Sullivan released this message.
“Today, across Alaska and across our great nation, American communities throughout our country will be taking the time to recognize, celebrate, and honor their veterans and those who continue to serve. For our state, this is a really important day, and I’m looking forward to spending time in Anchorage and in the Mat-Su Valley on Veterans Day,” he said. “Why is this so important to us? Because we are the state with more veterans per capita than any state in the country. That is a special patriotic element of our culture and heritage in Alaska, and it means so much to everybody. Speaking of Alaska veterans, we just had the opportunity here in D.C. to honor Alaska veterans from World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam, who came to Washington, D.C. as part of the Last Frontier Honor Flight. This is such a great organization, and they’re just celebrating this year, their 10th anniversary. They do incredible work for our great state.”
He thanked veterans for defending the nation.
“On this Veterans Day, I want to again thank all of our Alaska veterans, all veterans across the United States, and, of course, their families who, in many ways, sacrifice as much, if not more, than so many of our veterans,” Sullivan said.
