By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service
NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 15, 2014 – Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Bryan B.
Battaglia, the senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, and his wife, Lisa, joined about 2,500 service members, veterans and
their families at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center yesterday
where the troops were honored guests at the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge
Practice.
The NBA Cares Hoops for Troops program hosted the veterans
and service members, who were invited to take part in on-court activities with
NBA rookies and second-year players during breaks in the practice.
Hoops for Troops is a year-round initiative, in partnership
with the Defense Department and the USO, to honor active-duty and veteran
service members.
Following the practice, the Battaglias traveled to the New
Orleans community of Algiers to spend several hours working alongside about 250
service members and veterans as well as current and former NBA players as they
rehabbed six homes, including the homes of four veterans, as part of the NBA
Cares Day of Service.
“It's great working together with NBA All-Stars and vets to
rebuild a Vietnam vet's home,” the sergeant major said. “These are awards you
wear in your chest, not on them.”
Rebuilding Together organized the volunteer work and
selected the homes that would receive work, said Tim Parsons, director of
marketing and communications for Rebuilding Together. Included in the thousands
of homes the group has rehabbed for low-income homeowners are about 1,500 homes
for veterans, he noted.
“We do about 10,000 projects a year rebuilding homes for
low-income homeowners who have to make tough choices every day between things
like food and medicine or fixing their homes,” Parsons said.
Battaglia also met with a number of NBA officials yesterday
and today, including Commissioner Adam Silver and Jerry Colangelo, the
president of Team USA, as part of a Defense Department initiative to increase
hiring of veterans by Fortune 500 companies.Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Bryan B.
Battaglia, the senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, and his wife Lisa joined about 2,500 service members, veterans and their
families at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center yesterday where
the troops were honored guests at the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge
Practice.
The NBA Cares Hoops for Troops program hosted the veterans
and service members, who were invited to take part in on-court activities with
NBA rookies and second-year players during breaks in the practice.
Hoops for Troops is a year-round initiative, in partnership
with the Defense Department and the USO, to honor active-duty and veteran
service members.
Following the practice, the Battaglias traveled to the New
Orleans community of Algiers to spend several hours working alongside about 250
service members and veterans as well as current and former NBA players as they
rehabbed six homes, including the homes of four veterans, as part of the NBA
Cares Day of Service.
“It's great working together with NBA All-Stars and vets to
rebuild a Vietnam vet's home,” the sergeant major said. “These are awards you
wear in your chest, not on them.”
Rebuilding Together organized the volunteer work and
selected the homes that would receive work, said Tim Parsons, director of
marketing and communications for Rebuilding Together. Included in the thousands
of homes the group has rehabbed for low-income homeowners are about 1,500 homes
for veterans, he noted.
“We do about 10,000 projects a year rebuilding homes for
low-income homeowners who have to make tough choices every day between things
like food and medicine or fixing their homes,” Parsons said.
Battaglia also met with a number of NBA officials yesterday
and today, including Commissioner Adam Silver and Jerry Colangelo, the
president of Team USA, as part of a Defense Department initiative to increase
hiring of veterans by Fortune 500 companies.
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