2023 Veterans Day Celebration
The State of Missouri welcomes you to our 2023 Veterans Day Celebration!
Thursday, November 9, 2023 at 10:00 AM
Harry S. Truman Atrium
Jefferson City
We are proud to celebrate Veterans Day with our team members who have served in the military. On November 9th, we invite all veterans to wear something that signifies your service to our country, whether it’s your uniform, insignia, or commendations.
All other team members can purchase Statewide Veterans Day Celebration T-shirts at the link below.
Shirts are sold through an outside vendor. Purchase of a shirt is at the expense of the buyer.
Honored Guests
Representative Dave Griffith
District 060
Representative Dave Griffith, a Republican, represents Cole County (District 60) in the Missouri House of Representatives. He was elected to his first two-year term in November 2018.
Prior to his legislative duties, Griffith served as the executive director of the American Red Cross for six years. Griffith also served on the city council for Jefferson City. Prior to that, he spent 23 years working for KRCG TV in a variety of roles ranging from production to account executive.
Griffith served in the U.S. Army 8th Special Forces Group as a Green Beret. Griffith is a member of the Kiwanis Club, Rotary International, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, Easter Seals Association, Red Cross Board of Directors and the Special Olympics. He has been recognized with the Red Cross Heart of a Hero Award and an American Cancer Society Lifetime Achievement Award. Griffith is a graduate of Missouri Southern State University. Griffith resides in Jefferson City with his wife, Leigh. They have two children and five grandchildren.
Major General Levon E. Cumpton
Missouri National Guard
Major General Levon E. Cumpton assumed duties as the Adjutant General of the Missouri National Guard, Jefferson City, Missouri, on August 2, 2019. As the Adjutant General, on behalf of the Governor, he provides command and control of over 12,000 Missouri National Guard Soldiers, Airmen, Federal, and State employees. He ensures the Missouri National Guard is manned, trained, equipped and resourced for its dual state and federal missions.
General Cumpton was raised on a farm in Bates County, Missouri and graduated from Ballard High School. He commissioned in 1990 through the Wentworth Military Academy Reserve Officer Training Corps program. He previously served simultaneously as the 35th Engineer Brigade Commander and the Director of Manpower and Personnel for the Missouri Army National Guard. Prior assignments include: Deputy of Operations/Plans/Training, Missouri Army National Guard; Deputy Brigade Commander, 110th Maneuver Enhanced Brigade; Commander, 1-138th Infantry Battalion; Training/Operations and Executive Officer, 1138th Engineer Battalion; Commander, C Company 2-502nd Infantry, Fort Campbell, KY.
General Cumpton’s operational deployments include peacekeeping missions in the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia and Kosovo, stability operations in Bosnia, and a combat tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Additionally, in Missouri, he has supported numerous declared state emergencies.
General Cumpton earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, Missouri and a Master of Strategic Studies from the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.
His awards, decorations, and badges include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal (with one silver oak leaf cluster), Ranger Tab, Combat Action Badge and the Missouri Conspicuous Service Medal. He was awarded the Bronze Order of the de Fleury Medal and the Order of Saint Maurice (Legionnaire).
Major General Cumpton and his wife Linda have two children, Emily and Chance, and reside in Jefferson City, Missouri.
History of Veterans Day:
Memorial gestures dating back to 1921 were taking place all over the world where ceremonies were being held to honor fallen soldiers. Those fallen soldiers were being buried in each nation’s highest place of honor. These memorial gestures all took place on November 11, giving universal recognition to the celebrated ending of World War I fighting at 11 a.m., November 11, 1918 (the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month). This Day became known as “Armistice Day.”
The first celebration using the term “Veterans Day” occurred in 1947, in Birmingham, Alabama. A World War II veteran, by the name of Raymond Weeks, organized “National Veterans Day,” on November 11, which included a parade and a bunch of other festivities, to honor all veterans. U.S. Representative Edward Rees of Kansas proposed a bill that would change Armistice Day to Veterans Day. In 1954, Congress passed the bill that President Eisenhower signed proclaiming November 11 as Veterans Day.
