United Through Reading hosted the 3rd Annual Tribute to Military Families in Washington, D.C., sponsored by BAE Systems, Inc.

May 31, 2016

This week, more than 300 individuals, passionate about military families, joined us in Washington, D.C., to help us celebrate those families and the connections made through the read-aloud experience provided by United Through Reading. The event also gave recognition to the corporate, public policy, and military leaders whose vision and support of United Through Reading are vital to our mission delivery.

Honorees for the evening were Congresswoman Kay Granger, Representative of the 12th district in Texas,  and United Through Reading’s decade long partnership with the USO. Congresswoman Kay Granger has been extraordinary in her support of service members and their families. A close colleague, Congressman Steve Womack, who is a 30 year veteran of the U.S. Army National Guard, accepted the honor on her behalf.

Col Barney Barnum, USMC (Ret), Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient and United Through Reading CEO Sally Ann Zoll, Ed.D.

We were honored that the U.S. Marine Corps’ 4th Medal of Honor recipient, Col Barney Barnum, USMC (Ret) joined us to explain the significance of the recognition that UTR received from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society stating, “UTR embodies the spirit of the Medal of Honor and we are pleased to recognize them for their efforts.” As we celebrated this award, we did so on behalf of the military families we proudly serve and with sincere gratitude to our supporters who enable us to ease the challenges faced by military families each day.

The USO has been a critical partner in UTR’s successful mission delivery to military members around the globe. Dr. J.D. Crouch, II, USO’s president and CEO, accepted the award. During ten years in partnership, more than 325,000 service men and women have made video recordings at 70 USO host sites, and we are grateful for their continued passion and shared commitment to serving the military community together. 

The Honorable Patrick Murphy reading with United Through Reading to his children.

The Honorable Patrick Murphy, Under Secretary of the Army, provided the evening’s keynote where he shared his own United Through Reading experience using the program to stay connected to his young children at home who live in Philadelphia while Murphy currently serves in Washington, D.C. He even shared a bit of his own recording of Dr. Jill Biden’s book, Don’t Forget, God Bless Our Troops, with the audience.

Chaplain Dennis Kelly, U.S. Navy, spoke during our evening about how United Through Reading has had an impact on him, his wife, and their five children over the course of several deployments. Chaplain Kelly is currently assigned to Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in California and has recently returned from a six-month deployment. He was joined onstage by his daughter, Sarah, who was two-months old when he deployed. Chaplain Kelly said “at the end of an exhausting day, I was there to read the kids a story and to give Mommy a much-needed break. Sarah would crawl to the TV, pat the screen and use her first word, ‘Dada,’ to request FaceTime, long before Apple ever thought of it.”  

United Through Reading CEO, Sally Ann Zoll, Ed.D., Dr. J.D. Crouch, President and CEO of the USO and Chaplain Dennis Kelly, USN, and his daughter Sarah Kelly.

During the evening, we also heard from United Through Reading mom and the 2016 Armed Forces Insurance Spouse of the Year, Natasha Harth, who shared her UTR story saying, “United Through Reading has left permanent imprints on our hearts…Between deployments and schools, it was a very tumultuous time in everyone’s life. United Through Reading was a way for Daddy to spend quality time with us.”

United Through Reading thanks our presenting sponsor, BAE Systems, Inc., for their support of our 3rd Annual Tribute to Military Families. We couldn’t serve military families without partners like them. Other event sponsors included Cobham; Booz Allen Hamilton; General Dynamics; Google; Lockheed Martin; Engility Corporation; Huntington Ingalls Industries; Northrop Grumman; Tutor.com; ADI; Cisco; General Electric, Monster and Military.com; AirBoss Defense; Buchanan Design; Covington & Burling, LLP; Rebecca and Michael Hall; Dwayne and Kay Junker; Jeff and Judy Mader; Marriott International; Rockwell Collins; Stapleton and Associates; Douglas and Christine Stewart; and Drs. James G. and Sally Ann Zoll.  

United Through Reading is very grateful to all program participants, attendees, honorees, and sponsors of the 3rd Annual Tribute to Military Families for the ways that you unceasingly move our mission forward, and in doing so, serve our nation’s military families. Thank you for all that you do.

If you are not already, consider being a part of the team that makes these connections for military families a reality. Join us with a commitment to support or volunteer.