A Resolution By The Board Of County Commissioners Of Pasco County, Florida, Declaring The Month Of May 2026 As National Military Appreciation Month In Pasco County

39:54Okay, next up is RS2.

39:56Thank you. So resolution number two, if you are here for National Military Appreciation Month, please step forward to the podium.

40:07Yeah. I see some I see some movement.

40:15Okay, how many we get? Where's Derek?

40:20Now that he's a chaplain.

40:23I know we have seven deployed right now.

40:25Oh really?

40:28Wow. All right, I'll go ahead and read the resolution. Resolution number Twenty-six dash one nine two resolution by the board of county commissioners of Pasco County, Florida. declaring the month of May twenty twenty six as National Military Appreciation Month in Pasco County. Whereas designated by Congress in 1999, Military Appreciation Month is observed every May and encompasses several military-focused holidays, encouraging nationwide recognition of the contributions and

40:58sacrifices made by the Armed Forces. ANRAS Military Appreciation Month plays a crucial role in fostering awareness and understanding of the challenges faced by the military community. and provides a platform for education and dialogue about the experiences of service members, veterans, and their families. ANRAS, throughout the history of the United States, the men and women of our armed forces have stood in defense of our freedom, serving with honor, valor, and the distinction in times of war and peace. And

41:28RARAS Military Appreciation Month honors every person who has served in a branch of the U.S. military and reminds us that we owe many of our freedoms to the sacrifices made by military personnel. ANRAS, in addition to keeping the country safe, the U.S. military also conducts important research that has led to many important and useful civilian technologies that we use every day, like GPS, canned foods, and jet engines. ANRAS Pasco County is home to more than 50,000 veterans, as

41:58well as many active duty, National Guard, and Reserve Service members, each of whom represents A legacy of service and strengthens our local communities and contributes to the security and well-being of our nation. And whereas the Pasco County Veterans Services Office, in partnership with community organizations, remain committed to supporting our veterans, service members, and their families through outreach, advocacy, and comprehensive services. And whereas the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners is grateful to our armed forces and

42:29shows gratitude for the service and sacrifice of military personnel, veterans, and their families throughout the entire month of May. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Board of County Commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, that said board hereby declares the month of May 2026 as National Military Appreciation Month in Pasco County and calls upon Citizens to honor and express their gratitude to the members of the United States Armed Forces, our veterans, and their families for their selfless dedication. Done and resolved in regular session with

42:59a quorum present and voting this 21st day of April 2026. Move to approve?

43:04Second. Second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye.

43:06Aye.

43:07Aye. Commissioner Starkey.

43:09Yeah. Well, I'm really, really proud to uh be the sponsor of this one as a active military son-in-law. Um and We have so many I had no idea. And we also have many who served who who served in the past and I I think at this time I'd just like them to stand up too and be recognized. Former military here. Um

43:41We're we're very grateful for your service and um rather than me just tell you how grateful we are for all of you, I wanna hear who you are and how you serve, if you wouldn't mind coming up to the podium.

43:56I'll start off. I'm not a stranger here. Uh Dave Gerson, I'm the manager of Veteran Services. Um I'm uh I'm here proudly serving all the veterans in the county um and welcome my f fellow veterans uh in the And what county employees

44:12were you in or are you?

44:13I served in the Marine Corps for thirty three years. Amazing. Yes, ma'am.

44:18Proud to be

44:18here.

44:19And Dave, I want to thank you while you're here.

44:27Trying to get some help through one of the programs out there and took his time to get out there first thing in the morning before the board meeting so we can make it happen. So thank you for your extra effort to to help

44:35that veteran. Yes sir. Whether whether they're a four-year veteran or a twenty-two-year-old brand new veteran or

44:43Thank you for the support.

44:48Good morning, I'm CJ Allen. I work in traffic operations. Um United States Army uh twenty-six years, seven months, and thirty days.

45:02I'm uh Scott Burke, uh Pocton Rex. Uh I did 10 years active duty and currently serving in the Florida National Guard. Twenty three years total. Oh great. Thank you so much.

45:18Uh Chris Ramel uh public works. Um currently serving in the uh Army Reserves did eight years active duty, so um twenty six years so far.

45:28Which which force?

45:29Uh Army, ma'am.

45:30What?

45:31Army.

45:34Is Marine Army? I don't it's its own thing, right?

45:40What what does Marine come out of? Is its own thing?

45:45Yes ma'am. What?

45:49It's its own branch of service. I

45:51think we need to move on.

45:54Sorry. I always thought it was under one of the ones. Special people under a certain one.

46:00It's uh Derek Berger, Office of Economic Growth. I'm pretty green to this, uh Navy um chopping candidate. I actually have more training in June, so um I guess technically in the Marines falls under the Navy, but I wouldn't say

46:11I'm Department

46:11of Navy, but I wouldn't call them Navy, so

46:14I didn't I didn't Have to learn my marine history. Um Camp Lejeune, right? Yes. Okay, I got that right. Um Okay, so I have something for all of you, but since there's there's um Five of them. I think we can all go down and thank our our our Oh, I had one other comment. You said we have some people serving right now that are deployed?

46:37Yeah, so so th that list we had uh forty five, I think, are active reservists. We have Many, many more veterans that that serve in the organization, but seven of our reservists are currently deployed is my understanding.

46:49Do we do we ever send them like a um a box of something? You know, uh what do you call those? Care package? Care package.

46:56Um I would check with I'll check with our human resources.

46:58I would love to do that, right guys? We can all put something in there for our sir our serving. Okay. I want to do that. All right, let's go down and thank these guys personally.

47:28I'm going out to this place. Thank you so much. Yeah, I'm excited to. Oh, yeah.

47:38Hey they didn't give me anything. Where are the Who's got the uh

47:48Okay, now. Is is it right there?

47:52That was something.

47:55That's it? Oh all right, I guess I'm gonna give this to you first. I don't have skills to all the rough.

48:05But I think

48:32Well say I know they're here. Those are all live signs.

48:36Yeah.

48:39And then we'll get it. We'll figure out how we can test everything. Okay, there you go.

48:49All right, ready? Three.