While we were in Wichita for the Kansas Farm Bureau Young Farmer and Rancher Leadership Conference I had the privilege of meeting Bill Broadie. Bill has spent his entire life in the beef industry except for the years his gave to his county. He's a Vietnam War veteran that, like many of his fellow soldiers, didn't receive the hero's welcome he should have when he came home from the war.
It's hard for me to understand why this would ever happen but Bill wanted to make sure that our current soldiers didn't have to experience the same thing. He combined his passion for the beef industry with his appreciation for our nation's returning heroes when he formed the All-American Beef Battalion. It's a program that feeds our troops and their families the best home-cooked steak dinner imaginable when they return home from the war.
Going out for a nice steak dinner with our families is something that most of us take for granted. But these soldiers haven't seen their families in months or years and during that time they certainly weren't eating at a nice restaurant. Listening to Bill tell the stories of how much our troops appreciate this simple act of appreciation will bring a tear to anyone's eye and make you appreciate everything you have.
It was a privilege for me to donate to this cause and I would really encourage all of you to support it as well. They are a non-profit that relies on donations of money, time and beef to make this happen. If they can't get that then our troops don't get to enjoy one of these meals. Amazingly they have fed over 60,000 steak dinners in the past couple of years but there are more heroes returning home everyday that deserve the same.
Bill is serving his country for the second time in his life, let's give him the appreciation and support he should have gotten the first time.
1 comment:
My wife and I were also in Witchita for the Kansas YF&R conference and had the pleasure of hearing Bill speak. You are right what he is doing is great for our troops and our industry. We also had the privilage of helping to serve the troops as part of one of his feeds. The steaks served are a great piece of meat and the troops and their families are so grateful that you spend the whole time with a tear in your eye while you work. This is an awesome cause and one that everyone involed with the beef industry should be proud to be a part of.
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