Patriot Freedom Festival

Memorial Day Weekend is fast approaching. Area pools will be opening, The Five Rivers Fountain of Lights at RiverScape MetroPark in Downtown Dayton will start shooting water again plus there will be plenty of parties & barbeques with family and friends. This weekend is also the unofficial start of Summer. The main reason we have this extended holiday weekend is to honor the men and women who have died while serving in the U.S. military by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades.

It also happens to be the most fitting weekend for the 12th Annual Patriot Freedom Festival on Saturday & Sunday, May 28-29, 2016 from 11 AM to 6 PM (both days) at the historic Dayton VA Medical Center Campus on 4100 West Third Street. This event is hosted by the American Veterans Heritage Center, a non-profit organization whose sole mission is “To preserve the best of our past…by improving the present…to create a better future for our heroes, our United States Veterans.” In short, the AVHC is the VA’s historical society. This year’s festival theme is Honoring Women in the Military. The festival is family friendly including free admission and free parking.

The Dayton V.A. (Veterans Affairs) Medical Center Campus was built in 1867 when it was known as the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers and later the Dayton Soldiers Home. President Abraham Lincoln signed the creation of the Dayton VA into legislation on March 3, 1865. In 2012, the entire Dayton VA Medical Center campus was awarded with a National Historic Landmark status. 2017 marks the 150th Anniversary of the Dayton VA Medical Center with many events and festivities going on throughout the year.

I recently sat down with Tara Browne, a very enthusiastic volunteer for the AVHC. She has many reasons and much motivation to volunteer for this organization. Her father and sister both served in the U.S. Air Force (30 years and 10 years respectively). Browne’s grandfather on her mother’s side served under General MacArthur in the U.S. Army during World War II. He had four brothers who also fought in WWII. One of them was actually in the Battle of the Bulge and survived.

“When I was out in California, I did a lot of work with the homeless. I just kind of started feeding the homeless on the street as I found them. The more stories I heard, the more people I got to know on the streets and the more I realized that a lot of them were veterans. When I moved back from California to Ohio, I actively sought out volunteer opportunities at the Dayton VA because I knew I wanted to get more involved with that. So that’s how it started. Now I’m involved with the VA as well as Team Rubicon, Team RWB and the Invictus Games,” said Browne.

In 2015, Browne’s first year volunteering for the AVHC, she served as Event Co-Chair for the Patriot Freedom Festival. “I think it’s great because for one it opens up the VA, this awesome historical location that most people don’t even know is there or have forgotten about it. It opens it up to the public. It provides a lot of interesting things to do and interesting ways to learn not only about the history of Dayton, but about the impact that Dayton itself has had on veteran history. The VA was one of the original three and is one of the only ones of those original three that’s still open and functioning to this day. That was Civil War era and has made it all that way through. So, I think it’s a really cool learning time and just a fun, safe place for families to be,” said Browne.

 Here is Browne’s rundown of what to expect at the festival.