LBJ Library to Host Veterans Program

MEDIA ADVISORY

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

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WHAT: The LBJ Library is hosting a panel discussion to celebrate the service and leadership of The New Greatest Generation of veterans.  The evening will feature a conversation with TIME columnist Joe Klein and Iraq and Afghanistan veterans profiled in Klein’s recent TIME cover story, “The New Greatest Generation.”


WHEN: Wednesday, September 14, 2011, 6 p.m.


WHERE: LBJ Library Auditorium, 2313 Red River, Austin, TX


WHO: TIME columnist Joe Klein will be joined by IAVA Senior Advisor Tommy Sowers, and two other panelists and Iraq veterans, Matt Pelak and Seth Moulton. Also in attendance will be dozens of local IAVA Member Veterans who claimed their tickets to the event through The Rucksack.

Tommy Sowers: Sowers is a former Special Forces officer and achieved the rank of Major in the United States Army.  He completed two tours of duty in Iraq.  Sowers serves as a Senior Advisor at IAVA and represents IAVA before external audiences, promoting the organization’s critical work and helping IAVA meet yearly fundraising goals.

Matt Pelak:  Pelak served in the Army for 12 years and was deployed to Iraq in 2004.  Currently, he works as a firefighter/paramedic in New York, and is East Coast Regional Coordinator for Team Rubicon, a disaster relief organization featured in the TIME article.

Seth Moulton:  Moulton did two tours in Iraq as a Marine platoon commander and left active duty as a Captain.  He served as a Special Assistant to General David Petraeus in 2005 and again in 2007-2008.  In 2009, he was embedded with the Marines in Helmand Province as a reporter for Dan Rather. 

Joe Klein:  Klein’s weekly column for TIME, “In the Arena,” covers the Middle East, presidential politics, and elections, and he’s a regular contributor to TIME.com’s political blog, “Swampland.”  In 1996, Klein anonymously wrote the critically acclaimed novel Primary Colors, based on the 1992 presidential race.

Iraq and Afghanistan veterans can visit The Rucksack to find unique "High Life” experiences in their community and to request tickets. Veterans must be confirmed (paperwork-certified) IAVA members to gain access to these events and opportunities. The Rucksack also gives partners, sponsors or individuals a platform to provide experiences to returning veterans nationwide. 


If you are a member of the media who wishes to cover the September 14th Veterans Program or arrange an interview with IAVA Founder and Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff, IAVA Special Advisor Tommy Sowers or an IAVA Member Veteran attending the event, please contact Isabel Black (212) 982-9699 or isabel@iava.org.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (www.IAVA.org) is the country's first and largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and has more than 200,000 Member Veterans and civilian supporters nationwide. Its mission is to improve the lives of this country's newest generation of veterans and their families.