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BATON ROUGE, La.—The Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs will host the Desert Storm 30^th Anniversary Commemoration on Friday, Oct. 29 at 11 a.m. in the courtyard of the Pentagon Barracks in Baton Rouge. Major General Bennett Landreneau, former adjutant general of the Louisiana National Guard, will be the keynote speaker at the ceremony followed by lunch on the grounds.

“It is our great honor to recognize Louisiana’s Desert Storm veterans upon the 30^th anniversary of that conflict,” said LDVA Secretary Joey Strickland, COL (USA Retired). “Each Desert Storm veteran who attends the ceremony will be honored individually for their service and sacrifice to our great nation.”

Joining Secretary Strickland and MG Landreneau are Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, Major General Keith Waddell, House Speaker Clay Schexnayder and a host of elected and military officials. Aside from the ceremony and luncheon, staff from the Louisiana National Guard’s Jackson Barracks Museum in New Orleans will host a mobile Desert Storm exhibit complete with textiles and memorabilia.

Operation Desert Storm was the first major foreign crisis for the United States after the end of the Cold War beginning on Jan. 17, 1991 as a 42-day U.S.-led air offensive. Approximately 697,000 U.S. troops took part in the war of which 299 lost their lives. From the Louisiana National Guard, 1,812 soldiers from nine units deployed with another 6,600 LANG soldiers federally mobilized.

Please RSVP to veteran@la.gov by Sunday, Oct. 24 to attend in person. If individuals cannot attend the event in person, it will be streamed live via LDVA’s Facebook page and via Zoom at https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_eAqIiEazQ7e4hD6lnFOAQg.

For more information about the commemoration or LDVA, visit vetaffairs.la.gov, email veteran@la.gov, call 225.219.5000 or follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.