JACKSONVILLE, Fla., —
The senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff arrived here today to discuss veterans’ issues with local leaders and service members and to emphasize the Chairman’s Sports Outreach Initiative.
Earlier, at a stop In New Orleans, Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Bryan B. Battaglia participated in a panel discussion on traumatic brain injury. He and his wife Lisa also attended an event marking today's 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of France at the National World War II Museum.
Battaglia also took part in a Day of Service involving renovation of the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ facility in New Orleans, the only one in the city and the oldest in the state. Battaglia noted that its membership is mostly young veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Then it was on to Jacksonville for a military veterans luncheon at City Hall, where the mayor and coalition members briefed him on the city’s efforts to educate veterans and help them find employment.
This evening, as part of the Chairman’s Sports Outreach Initiative, Battaglia is scheduled to attend a practice of the USA Men’s Soccer Team and greet service members. Tomorrow, he will watch as the United States soccer team faces Nigeria in a pre World Cup matchup.
(Follow Terri Moon Cronk on Twitter: @MoonCronkAFPS)