Local will speak at MTSU’s Veteran Speakers Series

Moore County native and veteran Jason Bobo will be the guest speaker at MTSU’s Veteran Speaker Series on Tuesday. You can register for the free event online. (Graphic Provided)

Local veteran and Moore County native Jason Bobo will be the featured speaker at MTSU’s Veteran Speaker Series, Roll Call, on Tuesday, August 9 beginning at 6 p.m. The interactive, digital event is free and open to the general public. You can register by clicking here.

A Lynchburg native and former Moore County Raider football player, Bobo served in the U.S. Army for eight years including two tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. He currently works at the Jack Daniel Distillery as a warehouse foreman and is one of the leaders of the distillery’s veterans employee resource group, BRAVE.

Bobo says he’s honored to be asked to speak on the veteran’s series on behalf of Lynchburg, veterans, and his employer Jack Daniel’s Distillery but he also feel tremendous pressure to do justice to the important topics that will be discussed.

Bobo will speak about the Jack Daniels BRAVE Veteran Employee Resource Group and the ways in which it focuses on veterans in the Lynchburg community. BRAVE serves as a community outreach program that not only helps veterans advance their careers at the distillery but also heightens veteran issues awareness in our community. BRAVE coordinates with Wreath Across America each December to honor deceased local veterans buried in Lynchburg cemeteries. They also partner with Home Depot to build handicapped ramps for area disabled vets. This past Memorial Day, they partnered with local firefighters to create the American flag display at the corner of Major Boulevard and Mechanic Street.

Bobo (third from the left) was part of a group that included members of the Moore County Volunteer Fire Department, Jack Daniel’s Fire Brigade, and veterans who work at the Jack Daniel Distillery that erected a Memorial Day flag display. Volunteers placed large American flags around the perimeter and smaller flags in a grid similar to the one a Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C. Pictured (from left to right) are John and Robin LaCook, Jason Bobo, Robin Holt, MCVFD Chief Mark Neal, Karin Quimby, and David Chandler. (*LynchburgTimes Photo*)

In addition to the BRAVE group, the distillery has a long history of supporting military and veteran causes including Operation Ride Home, which assists junior-enlisted service members travel from their military bases to homes around the country each holiday season. Throughout the life of the program, Jack Daniel’s has raised over $2 million in resources to connect military members with their families back home.

Prior to May 30, The Times interviewed Bobo about his service and the meaning of Memorial Day to him personally. You can read that complete interview by clicking here. In it, he explained what it’s like to transition from military to civilian life.

The MTSU Veterans and Military Family Center is named for Charlie and Hazel Daniels. During his lifetime, the Hermitage resident served a vocal proponent for military families and support for veterans on both a state and federal level. The Center offers transition services for veterans and their families as they return to civilian life after military service including enrollment assistance and employment placement after degree completion. {To learn more about the center, click here.) •

{The Lynchburg Times is an independently-owned, community newspaper located in Lynchburg, Tennessee the home of The Jack Daniel Distillery. We focus on public service, non-partisan, rural journalism. We cover the Metro Moore County government, local tourism, Moore County schools, high school sports, Motlow State Community College, as well as whiskey industry news and regional and state stories that affect our readers.}