Governor Kenneth Mapp said he was “pleased” to meet with one of the Virgin Islands’ oldest veterans, Pastor Ray Joseph, Friday at Government House on St. Thomas.
According to a press release issued from the governor’s office, Pastor Joseph was received with honors by Gov. Mapp, who said he is committed to making veterans’ affairs a “priority.”
“I am pleased to have welcomed you to Government House and I assure you that serving our Veterans is a priority and an honor,” Mapp told Joseph at the formal meeting.
While on the campaign trail during the 2014 runoff election against former Delegate to Congress Donna M. Christensen, then-candidate Mapp said the territory could not continue the practice of sending soldiers to war only for them to return to a Virgin Islands with minimal veterans’ services.
“We got the message out, that we cannot continue to send our young men to Afghanistan, Kuwait and Iraq to fight, get injured or to die, only to come back to a Virgin Islands that provides little or no veterans’ services,” Mapp said during a campaign rally at Cramer’s Park.
Pastor Joseph was born in 1932 and served in the military for 18 years. Now 82, he is one of the oldest-living veterans who served in both the Korean and Vietnam wars. He was introduced to the Governor by V.I. Veterans Director Designee Patrick Farrell, according to Government House.
Tags: Pastor Ray Joseph, Veteran Pastor Ray Joseph, VI veteran Pastor Ray Joseph
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