Veteran’s Day and other things in Milam County

This week has been and will be a busy week. Sunday, we saw the dedication of the Worley Bridge as a State Historical Landmark. The Worley Bridge was built between 1911 and 1913 and is on CR 428 off of FM 908 in Apache Pass. It’s on land donated by the Worley family, thus the name. It’s one the few bridges of its sort in the state that still handles motor vehicle traffic on a daily basis. 

This week also sees the full-time return to work of Milam County Deputy Sam Ferguson. Deputy Ferguson is the MCSO’s Mental Health Deputy and was shot late last year. We are so happy to have him back and look forward to him continuing the important work he does with the mental health issues we face here in Milam County. The 2024 budget will add another Mental Health Deputy to the MCSO’s roster, but Deputy Ferguson got things started for us and it’s wonderful to have him back.

This week is a week-long celebration sandwiched by two Saturdays of events for our Veterans here in Milam County. Last Saturday, Congressman Pete Sessions awarded two of our Milam County Veterans the Congressional Veterans Commendation. The CVC is one of the highest awards a Veteran can receive and was quite an honor to be in attendance as Jerry Lorton and David Knesek received the award here in Congressional District 17. 

The CVC is awarded to Veterans who showed exemplary service while in the uniform and then continue that service in their communities following their active-duty time. Both Jerry and David have done just that. Having served honorably during their time on active duty and then working either in civilian jobs or as volunteers for the betterment of their communities for us all.

As a fellow Veteran, I was happy to be there and honored to be asked to deliver the invocation for this event. Also, a special thank you to our Milam County Veterans’ Service Officer Alan Smith and Mr. Gordon Todd of Rockdale for delivering the introduction for Jerry and David. They did an outstanding job as well.

While last Saturday we recognized these two Veterans, this coming weekend we recognize all of our Veterans. We have around 1,300 veterans in Milam County which is roughly 5% of the population and each one of them is significant. They each wrote a blank check and served our country thereby keeping us all free in their own way during their service. This is why it was so important that we restarted the Veterans’ Services Office this year after it was stricken from the budget during the previous Commissioners Court. 

All of our Veterans are precious and should be treated as such on a daily basis, but this weekend we get to give them a special thank you. Most of our schools will have ceremonies on Friday to honor our Veterans, and many organizations will be hosting events to honor their service. So please take some time and if you have the chance this weekend let our Veterans know how important they are to us all.