ROME, Maine — It's always a good moment when you get the chance to thank a veteran. This is why Veterans United Home Loans is on the road this month with its #ThanksToVeterans Tour.
The tour is traveling coast to coast, celebrating veteran camaraderie, community service, and all the ways vets continue to serve their communities. On the tour are military advisors and former senior enlisted leaders of each branch of the armed forces.
“When I joined the Coast Guard, I did it because I love my country. I want to serve my country, and that didn’t stop when I took off my uniform,” Jason Vanderhaden, who served as the 13th Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard and is now part of the #ThanksTo Veterans Tour, said. “I’m thankful for the opportunity to continue to get out here and show our veterans how much we appreciate them.”
On Wednesday, the tour made a stop in Rome, Maine, at the Travis Mills Foundation retreat.
The retreat supports recalibrated veterans and their families. It was founded by Travis Mills, who lost parts of both arms and legs from an IED while on active duty in Afghanistan.
“I thought this was still a good way for me to serve my country in a different format because unfortunately, I couldn't continue my military career,” Mills told NEWS CENTER Maine. “We’re thankful to be one of the stops on their amazing tour they’re going on, and the progress is looking good.”
The #ThanksToVeterans Tour stopped to help build a shed, which will house some of the equipment the Travis Mills Foundation will use for special events, according to Vanderhaden.
The tour is making eleven stops in all. After Maine, the tour will head to Louisiana.
“It's just an opportunity for us to get out and show the veterans how much we care about them," Vanderhaden added.