In December, Congressman Vern Buchanan announced the honorees of the 3rd Annual Congressional Veteran Commendation ceremony. Buchanan established the awards to honor the wartime sacrifices and peacetime community involvement of veterans residing in Florida’s 16th Congressional District which is home to more than 64,000 Veterans.
“I established these awards to recognize our local heroes who have valiantly served both our country in uniform and our community,” said Buchanan. “While we will never be able to fully repay the honorees for their selfless sacrifices, I hope the Congressional Veteran Commendation helps express how grateful our community truly is for their service.”
Buchanan has a strong record of fighting for veterans and military families. In December 2021, a Buchanan measure to reduce military training accidents following the death of Bradenton soldier Nicolas Panipinto was enacted into law. In February 2025, Buchanan introduced the Veterans Mental Health Crisis Referral Enhancement Act (H.R. 1290), which directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a three-year pilot program to refer veterans experiencing mental health crises to approved non-Veterans Affairs mental health care providers, ensuring timely access to competent care. Buchanan also reintroduced the Veterans Overmedication and Suicide Prevention Act (H.R. 136) this Congress, which requires the VA to study the link between addictive opioids and the alarmingly high rate of suicides among veterans.
An independent panel chose the following 19 veterans for their service:
- Nelson Betancourt, U.S. Army.
- Benny Blackshire, U.S. Army-Vietnam
- Jeffery Camp, U.S. Army & Army National Guard Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
- Jack Carter, U.S. Marine Corps Vietnam and Gulf Wars
- Charles Conover, Jr. U.S. Army
- Ronald Cousineau, U.S. Air Force
- Emily Farkas, U.S. Air Force Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
- Ferris Garrett Jr., U.S. Air Force Vietnam.
- William Greer, U.S. Air Force
- Brian Hammer, U.S. Army Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
- Nathaniel Hawthorne, U.S. Navy Iraq
- Roberta Jordan, U.S. Army
- Robert Lucas II, U.S. Army
- Danny Melton, U.S. Marine Corps
- MaryAnn Rowe Michigan, Army National Guard Iraq
- Richard Steinestel, U.S. Navy Vietnam
- Roland Tiso Jr., U.S. Army Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
- Paul Wheat Jr., U.S. Army Vietnam
- Edward Wudarsky Jr., U.S. Army Vietnam
