Governor, congressman honor Florida's veterans

Gov. Rick Scott and U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho presented medals to hundreds of Florida's military veteransin a ceremony Monday at a Westside National Guard armory.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Hundreds of veterans in our area were honored for their service Monday morning at a National Guard armory on Jacksonville's Westside.

Gov. Rick Scott presented 308 Governor's Veterans Service Award medals at the Maxwell C. Snyder Armory on Normandy Boulevard and thanked 1.5 million veterans who have served from the Sunshine State.

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During his remarks, the governor spoke about his own father's experience about being a veteran.

"He's a typical World War II veteran. He never got any accolades for everything he did. He was injured and he struggled to get work," Scott said.

Those honored were happy to receive recognition for their service.

"It makes me feel good ... at the end of it, it was all worth it," said Navy veteran David Brown.

U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Gainesville, who was on hand for the ceremony, said that the backlog with veterans-care issues needs to be solved, and it is crucial that we help veterans who return home.

"If there's a waiting line, if you've been waiting for over 30 days, you can go immediately and get care outside of the VA system," Yoho said. "We've made sure that we were going to take care of the veterans in a timely fashion, to get this backlog under control."

Yoho along with Reps. Ander Crenshaw, R-Jacksonville, and Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, are holding a forum to discuss veteran's issues from 3-5 p.m. Monday afternoon at the Five Star Veteran's Center at 40 Acme Street in Jacksonville.  They are hosting Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Pensacola, who is chairman of the House Committee on Veteran's affairs for a discussion of health care, employment, education and housing benefits.

Scott, Yoho, Brown and Crenshaw are all running for re-election.