Photo By Scott Sturkol | A Good Morning America news team interviews USO Volunteer Evan Nelson on May 6, 2024,...... read more read more
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News team members with the show Good Morning America and USO members from all parts of America traveled to Fort McCoy on May 6 to be a part of a news gathering effort to recognize USO’s National Volunteer of the Year for 2023.
Evan Nelson, a volunteer through USO Wisconsin at the Fort McCoy USO station, earned the National USO Volunteer of the Year in 2023 and has served as a volunteer at McCoy for several years.
Nelson was interviewed by ABC television journalist Elizabeth Harrison for a Good Morning America segment that will air nationally about his reasons for volunteering, and more.
“I see our service members as being at the very top,” Nelson said about volunteering. “I have such respect for them and their serve. Being able to help them out, even in a small way. I will do whatever I need to do.”
The news team, which also included a videographer/photographer and sound specialist, also covered Nelson in action doing work for the USO, including serving Soldiers during an ice cream social at the Fort McCoy USO building on the cantonment area.
The news team also covered Nelson supporting service members out in a training area at Fort McCoy, which the USO volunteers complete regularly at the installation.
Harrison and the news team also took time to interview Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Col. Stephen Messenger about the importance of volunteers like Nelson and how they contribute to the welfare of the installation community.
“It’s fun to see the USO go out to the field and provide for the troops,” Messenger said. “As soon as the truck pulls up, they realize they are about to get something that is not part of their normal day.”
Messenger went on to refer about how a treat from the USO makes a busy day of training in the field a little easier. He said that’s what people like Nelson have done and continue to do daily through their volunteer service with the USO.
The stop at Fort McCoy lasted several hours but brings a spotlight on a volunteer who said he just loves doing what he does. He admitted doing the news interview made him nervous, but he did get through well, many observers said.
The main presence of a USO at Fort McCoy began less than a decade ago. It actually would be considered a reappearance since the USO was prominent on the post during World War II and the Korean War time periods when tens of thousands of troops were at then-Camp McCoy daily training for war overseas.
According to the USO, at https://www.uso.org, “the USO is a nonprofit, charitable corporation chartered by Congress that relies on donations from individuals, organizations and corporations to support its programs. It is not an agency of the U.S. government. However, every president has been the Honorary Chairman of the USO since 1941.”
Additionally, “Volunteers play a crucial role at the USO. Volunteers provide hundreds of thousands of hours of service, from welcoming home deployed service members to providing support for individual service members and their families at USO centers.”
Learn more about Nelson’s volunteer of the year story by visiting https://www.uso.org/stories/3743-evan-a-2023-uso-volunteer-of-the-year-carries-on-his-veteran-friend-s-legacy-at-fort-mccoy.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”
Also try downloading the Digital Garrison app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base. Fort McCoy is also part of Army’s Installation Management Command where “We Are The Army’s Home.”
| Date Taken: | 05.17.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 05.17.2024 18:17 |
| Story ID: | 471634 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WI, US |
| Web Views: | 820 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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