Sgt. Ken Yasger, former U.S. Army Ranger, current Georgia National Guard soldier and veteran of three deployments to Afghanistan, will give the keynote remarks during the annual Veterans Day program hosted by American Legion Dexter Allen Post 90, Saturday morning, Nov. 11, in the Emma Kelly Theater in downtown Statesboro.

The event is free, with the public encouraged to attend. In keeping with the origins of Veterans Day in the World War I armistice of 1918, when the guns were silenced at the "11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month," the speaking program begins at 11 a.m. But the Portal Middle High School Band is slated to begin playing outdoors on East Main Street at 9:45 a.m.

Then the Daughters of the American Revolution, Archibald Bulloch Chapter, will serve coffee and doughnuts inside the Averitt Center for the Arts building beginning at 10:30 a.m. Isaac Sherrod, the teenage piano prodigy from the Stilson community who also played during the Memorial Day program in May, is scheduled to perform patriotic selections in the theater before the Bulloch County Sheriff's Honor Guard posts the flag to start the program. 

As some may know, Ken Yasger is also an announced candidate for governor of Georgia, aiming for the 2026 Republican primary. But that's not why event organizers invited him to speak, said Dexter Allen Post 90 Commander Gary Martin, who noted that the American Legion does not endorse candidates.

"He is really about helping the veterans, you know, disabled veterans, homeless veterans, veterans whose families need something," Martin said. "He's very much focused on veterans' rights and veterans' needs, and for that reason I thought he would be an outstanding speaker on Veterans Day."

Shared with the post

Yasger, who does long-distance walking and running as "physically challenging campaign" fundraisers, visited the Dexter Allen Post 90 American Legion Hall in Statesboro twice during Tuesday bingo nights earlier this fall. 

On the first visit, he stopped by while making his campaign kickoff walk, from Tybee Island to the state Capitol in Atlanta. This took him just under two weeks, carrying a 60-pound rucksack, according to the story on his campaign webpage. After arriving at the Capitol on Sept. 22, he returned to Statesboro and the American Legion Hall on another bingo night, Sept. 26, and donated half of the approximately $5,400 he raised through the walk to the local post.

"How generous is that!" Martin said. "It's a very significant donation that helps us with our charitable contributions to our veterans, so that's what we're using it for. It's all earmarked for veterans."

Services provided by the American Legion to veterans include help with family needs, food, housing, transportation and assistance with claims for Veterans Affairs Department benefits — "you name it," according to Martin.

"We have homeless veterans that we provide stuff to, and that $2,700 can go a long way," he added.

12-year veteran

Yasger, originally from Illinois, enlisted in the U.S. Army back in October 2011 and underwent Basic Training at Fort Benning (recently renamed Fort Moore), Georgia, near Columbus, where he was offered contracts to attend Airborne School and the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program. Upon successfully completing all of his training in June 2012, he was stationed at Hunter Army Airfield, Savannah, with the 1st Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment. While with that regiment he deployed twice to Afghanistan, in 2013 and 2015.

In October 2015, Yasger transitioned from active duty to the Georgia Army National Guard, where he currently serves with the 3rd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, 48th Infantry Bridge Combat Team. In 2019, he deployed a third time to Afghanistan. He is scheduled for deployment to the Middle East next year.

His talking points

Now 34 and with 12 years experience in the military, Yasger said he will talk only a very little about his own service, preferring to recognize the contributions of underappreciated veterans of previous generations and to talk about a need for unity to overcome the divisiveness that is currently gripping the nation.

"I have a very big appreciation for veterans who served before me, in like World War II and Vietnam, especially Vietnam," he said. "Like, I've deployed three times. I know guys who haven't deployed, and yet they get thanked for their service a lot more than Vietnam veterans still do today. But they should be thanked for their service." 

Yasger also wants to talk about "the division in our country right now, not necessarily just politically, but that's a big part of it, media, politics and how it's going to take us all to come together because that's what veterans fight for."

Americans in military service don't fight for the divisions that politicians "who, most haven't served in the military in the first place, want to preach to us" and that are also promoted by the media, he said.

"We have to come together as a country, because that's what our veterans fought for; they didn't fight for either political party; they fought for the United States of America," Yasger said.

For 12 years now he has been a resident of Savannah, where he ran unsuccessfully for a state Senate seat in 2022. Although he may say something generally about his reasons for getting involved in politics, he said he plans to say nothing about his current candidacy.

It was actually local veteran Bob Marsh, chairman for the American Legion post's Memorial Day and Veterans Day events, who invited Yasger back to speak this Saturday, Martin said. He called Marsh "an integral part of our post," and one of the community's most dedicated volunteers, "diligent and giving," working also with Ogeechee Area Hospice and the Kiwanis Club of Statesboro. 

Joiner Anderson Funeral Home & Crematory, Bulloch Memorial Gardens and the Averitt Center for the Arts sponsor the observance in cooperation with American Legion Post 90.