BY PAUL MITCHELL
North Country This Week

CANTON -- Attendees at this year’s Veterans Day ceremony at Edward C. Seymour VFW Post 1231 will be treated to some invigorating words from a retired Major General with impressive credentials.

The observance will be held Thursday, Nov. 11, at 11 a.m. at the post, 34 Gouverneur St. The weather calls for partly sunny skies with a high of 51 degrees. A light luncheon will follow.

“We are truly blessed to live in a country where men and women answer the nation’s call to service and continue the legacy established by our forefathers since the birth of our nation,” said VFW Post Commander David M. Pearson. “Freedom is not free.”

The guest speaker will be Major General (Retired) Robert J. Kasulke, who earned his degree in Medicine from the University of New York, Syracuse, College of Medicine. in 1975. He is board certified in both general and vascular surgery and is a graduate of the Army Medical Officer Basic Course, the Army Medical Officer Advanced Course, Command and General Staff College and the United States Army War College, Class of 1999. Kasulke served 32 years in the Army Reserve.

He was appointed as a member of the Fort Drum Retiree Council in 2015 where he is currently the Officer Co-Chair of the installation Council. He was appointed to the Chief of Staff Army Retired Soldiers Council in Washington D.C. in 2017 until completion of his term in 2022. He is the deputy medical director for Jefferson County and the medical director for the Hospice of Jefferson County. Kasulke is also an Army Reserve Ambassador.

Army Reserve Ambassadors develop awareness and advocacy with community leaders and are vitally important bridges to communities across the Nation. They function at the state and local level and educate the public, community leaders and congressional staff offices about the capabilities and value of the Army Reserve and its Soldiers.

Kasulke is a life member of the Reserve Officers Association (ROA) and was elected as the National Surgeon and as the United States Vice-President of The Inter-Allied Confederation of Medical Reserve Officers (CIOMR). The Surgeon General also named Kasulke a Distinguished Member of the Medical Regiment, and he is a member of the Order of Military Medical Merit.