Veterans Day: This week’s speaker is Louis Gibson
In recognition of Veterans Day, this week’s speaker is Louis Gibson, who is an Army Combat Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom where he earned the Bronze Star, Combat Action Badge and Joint Meritorious Unit Award. He retired from the Oklahoma National Guard as a Lieutenant Colonel with 27 years of service – 4 years as a West Point Cadet, 10 active duty and 13 with the National Guard. Other major military awards include Meritorious Service Medal, two Army Commendation Medals, three Army Achievement Medals, and Parachutist Badge.
He received his bachelor’s degree in Geography from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He is also a graduate of the Command and General Staff College in Ft. Leavenworth, Kan.
He began his career with the Department of Veterans Affairs at the Muskogee VA Regional Office in 1999 working first on the Education side processing Montgomery GI Bill college tuition and later as a Rating Veterans Services Representative determining the percentage of disability and compensation Veterans receive for their service connected injuries. In 2008, Louis joined the Veterans Healthcare Administration at the Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center as a registered nurse in the Rehab Department. He currently works at the VA Medical Center as the Transitional Patient Advocate where he assists with short and long term needs of newly returned service members who are severely injured and ill who are transitioning from military treatment facilities to the VA health care system.
Louis is proud to be an Okie from Muskogee and was a member of the first graduating class from Hilldale High School. He is married to his wife, Janet, for over 20 years, and has 3 sons, Benjamin, Andrew and Jacob.
