Walker to Speak At National Memorial Day Parade

WASHINGTON, DC (May 22, 2014) – The leader of one of the nation’s leading charities dedicated to serving combat-wounded veterans has been invited to speak prior to the start of the National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, DC.

David Walker, CEO and president of the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes, will join several other high-profile speakers at the parade, which is billed as the largest Memorial Day event in the nation.  Launched in 2005 by the American Veterans Center, the parade is televised and broadcast live to troops stationed around the globe.

Walker will remind his audience about the on-going crisis among today’s wounded veterans of the global War on Terror. While many of these brave men and women have returned from multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan with obvious external injuries – including lost limbs, severe burns and other grievous physical trauma – others bear scars the rest of us cannot see.  These include the “hidden” wounds of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), which make it nearly impossible to lead what most people consider “normal” lives. These once-mighty and highly skilled warriors report extraordinarily high rates of depression, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, divorce and suicide.

Walker is scheduled to speak at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Monday, May 26.  He will be joined by several other notable speakers and celebrities, including actor Gary Sinise, Grammy Award-winning singer Kristian Bush (Sugarland), actor and wounded veteran J.R. Martinez and Miss America 2014 Nina Davuluri.

The National Memorial Day Parade will be televised live nationally on Reelz, around the world on The Pentagon Channel, on Washington, DC’s News Channel 8 and streamed on Military.com.