(Seguin) — You’re encouraged to shine your own light on the dedication and sacrifices of our veterans. Taking the lead in this new national collaborative initiative to support military veterans is Guadalupe County.
Guadalupe County has proclaimed this week (Nov.6-12) as Operation Green Light.
Sharing the county’s support of its veterans and encouraging folks to illuminate the color green in their honor is County Judge Kyle Kutscher.
“Operation Green Light is a way to recognize the service of those men and women who gave back to our country, who fought for our freedom just as a symbol of really showing that appreciation, that recognition lighting up buildings in a green light. We encourage residents to do so at their home also. Maybe just changing one bulb on your front porch anywhere to have that green illumination just to go ahead and show veterans that there is a tremendous amount of love and support for what they’ve done for our country, what they had to sacrifice being away from families and other issues that they’ve had to go through,” said Kutscher.
Kutscher says over the years, the county’s veteran population has grown. Not only that, but he also says the veterans themselves have become key players in the community.
“In Guadalupe County, we have a veteran population estimated at 17,877 veterans. The vast majority living in the west end of the county in Schertz and Cibolo because of Randolph and other military operations that are in close proximity but also at the auxiliary field and retired veterans are a growing population in Guadalupe County. They really are all spread out all over. That’s really high compared to a lot of counties that don’t have huge military operations that reside within their county. So, it is a big part of who we are. It’s a big part of our community, our identity,” said Kutscher.
Kutscher says showing veterans they are supported and appreciated has been a priority for the county. He says ensuring they have what they need has played a major factor in the direction of the county’s operation.
“I’m proud by the way that our county supports veterans. We have a number of programs that give back to them, but we should always strive to do better. We should always strive to do more and again, this Operation Greenlight is just a small token and symbol of that appreciation but it’s only for a week. There’s 52 weeks in a year. We need to be doing something all the time to try to give back to those individuals that afforded us the opportunity to be able to live the way we live. Our Veterans Service Office in Seguin and the Schertz office just to give some background to assist veterans, families, and dependents with accessing VA benefits and also have outreach and provide guidance on education opportunities, referrals for employment and healthcare with a number of other services. We do have a Veterans Treatment Court. Basically, it’s an opportunity for veterans that may have found themselves in a tough position to go through and up to a two-year treatment program then to successfully complete and have their charge either reduced or dismissed. It’s not an easy process. I don’t want people to think ‘oh veterans can do whatever they want, and they get off.’ It doesn’t work that way. It is an intense program that they have to comply with,” said Kutscher.
According to officials “greenlight” is a term commonly used to activate forward movement. In this case, to “greenlight” veterans is to forward them as a valued member of the community.
Operation Green Light comes at the heels of Veterans Day, which is Saturday, Nov. 11.