Assemblyman Ed Ra (R-Franklin Square) hosted a barbecue to celebrate the tremendous service and courage of veterans who have bravely served their country. The event was held on August 11 at VFW Post 2718 in Franklin Square and was attended by over 100 veterans and their family members.

“Being able to host and celebrate our nation’s heroes who have sacrificed so much means a great deal to me,” said Ra. “This is one of my very favorite events to be part of because there is so much we can learn from our veterans and how we can better serve them when they come back from war. It also gives us an opportunity to show them what resources we already have in place to help them transition back into civillian life.”

Ra has vigorously championed allocating more funding and resources to programs and services for veterans and their families.

“These heroes have defended our nation and protected Americans and their values,” said Ra. “We owe them a great deal of gratitude and we must ensure that when they come home from battle, we have every necessary service available to make them feel at home. Sometimes a simple ‘thank you’ is all it takes to make sure our servicemen and women know how much we value them, and that is precisely what we did here today.”