Fifth Baptist Church Veterans Ministry

11/11/2024

Veterans, don't believe any information about Chick-fil-A supporting veterans on Veterans Day with a free meal. It's fake information. I had to pay for a sandwich. Yes of course I am angry as hell. I didn't get much help from the store manager after complaining. Maybe this company so not deserve our money.

05/17/2024

There is a thief in our neighborhood. I am a little upset because a thief decided to steal one of our military service flags at the Fifth Baptist Church Veterans Ministry Patriotic Bench. If you didn't know, the bench is located on Richmond Henrico Turnpike between E. Brookland Park Blvd and Fourqurean Lane.

First, the city of Richmond is the land owner where the bench is located. The Veterans Ministry is the owner of the bench and everytlhing within the metal border surrounding the bench. It was our desire to help beautify the Dr. CKP Trail by installing a bench. We know that runners, walkers, bicyclists, etc. are using the trail; therefore, we thought it would be nice to add a resting area. We are very proud of this small piece of real estate that the city of Richmond has entrusted to us. We are doing our best to keep the site looking good throughout the year. Members of the Veterans Ministry had a clean the area session a month ago. We planted flowers and some hardscape items.

Next, the stolen garden flag is the Space Force Flag. It is the newest military service branch of the US Armed Forces. Since there are either no or just one Space Force Flag in the northside community, it shall not be hard to find the thief. If the thief would have contacted us prior to stealing the flag, we would have ordered and presented it to him or her. But, since the flag was stolen, we are moving forward with finding the thief and seeking a full custodian arrest. I am offering a $150.00 cash award to anyone helping us to find the person(s) responsible for the illegal removal of the garden flag. Why am I offering such a high reward for a $50.00 garden flag? I want the thief caught, arrested, and embarrassed. Surely, if you see something, say something.

The Fifth Baptist Church Veterans Ministry invite all veterans and their spouses to join us. We are 501(c) (19) veterans service organization and a member of the Joint Leadership Council of Veterans Service Organizations.

08/29/2023

Again this year, I am my wife's team captain for the annual Walk to End Alzheimer's. The event is Saturday, November 4, 2023. As her team captain, it is my responsibility to raise money in her honor. Sadly, we all probably know of someone with Alzheimer's and other dementia related matters. It's a devastating disease. Although the FDA and Medicare have approved Leqembi for Alzheimer's and other dementia related diseases, the drug is not a cure. The Walk to End Alzheimer's is solely raising money for research so Alzheimer's and related dementia disease can be stop.

If you can, help us to raise our $2,000.00 goal. Since last night, we are 13% towards our goal. Thank you! Go to www.alz.org. Scroll down to Walk to End Alzheimer's. Find your local walk. Find a team. Our team is "PWJones." Look for PWJones team page. Make your donation to PWJones Team, not to Thad Jones. Select your dollar amount, or fill in your desired amount. Make your one time payment. Complete the payment process as you scroll down the page. That's it. Thanks.

Alzheimer's Association national site – information on Alzheimer's disease and dementia symptoms, diagnosis, stages, treatment, care and support resources.

07/17/2023

I am guilty of procrastination...at least this time. Usually, I am not. I can not allow any more time to fly by without sharing with you, a true officer and gentleman's story.

One month ago, Colonel Quentin Joseph Smith Jr., USAF, Retired and several other African Americans were recognized as the recipients of the 2023 Strong Men and Women in Virginia History. Colonel Smith's sister, Ms. Margaret Smith Johnson nominated her brother for the prestigious honor. This is his story.

As a boy growing up near Hampton's Langley Research Center, where his mother worked as mathematician fore NASA, Colonel Smith dreamed of flying planes. In 1968, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force ROTC. Colonel Smith served with the 360th Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron during the Vietnam Ward. He received numerous military awards for valor in combat. Later in life, Colonel Smith worked as an engineer for the Navy in Dahlgren. In 1980, he jointed the Federal Aviation Administration, where he helped ensure the safety of civil air transport until his retirement in 2004. Colonel Smith served in the U. S. Air Force Reserves as a pilot with the 512th Military Airlift Wing based at Dover Air Force Base and as commander of the 709th Airlift Squadron before retiring with the rank of Colonel in 1998. During his service career, Colonel Smith logged more than 8,000 flying hours. Since retirement, Colonel Smith has remained active as a consultant on safety regulations and has devoted his time to educating young people about the Tuskegee Airmen, which were the first black pilots of the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. Colonel Smith was inspired by these earlier pilots; so much so, that he was the only African American in his pilot training class.

On a personal note, obviously, this is not an inclusive story about this officer and gentleman. On June 15th, the Fifth Baptist Church Veterans Ministry leadership team was invited to attend a semi formal dinner honoring Colonel Smith and other 2023 Strong Men and Women in Virginia History.

Colonel Smith was interviewed and the taped interview was shown to the dinner attendees. His speech was very inspiring and uplifting to all of us to heed. This is my take-a-way from his speech. " Do not let your circumstances define who you are. Don't ever give up."

The Fifth Baptist Church Veterans Ministry is very proud of Colonel Quentin Joseph Smith, Jr., USAF, Retired achievements. Sir, individually and collectively, we salute you for being a pathfinder and extraordinary role model for many. May God Bless you and your family.

The Fifth Baptist Church Veterans' Ministry is a 501(c)(19) tax exempt veterans service organization.

07/17/2023

A knock me out moment. On yesterday, Saturday July 15, 2023, I observed a special wow moment in time. I saw a beautiful site consisting of approximately 200+ runners heading easterly on E. Brookland Park Boulevard. The runners, including the group leaders made a right turn onto Richmond Henrico Turnpike/Cannon Creek Greenway. Some of you may know this trail as Dr. Charles K. Price's Trail. These runners passed by the hidden gem that is located on the trail. Folks, the hidden gem is none other than the Fifth Baptist Church Veterans Ministry Patriotic Bench. It is here at this site, observers, whether walking, running, bicycling, etc. can get a quick lesson about our branches of our military armed forces. If you did not know, now you know about the Army, Marines, Navy, Airforce, Coast Guard, Space Force, and the National Guard. We purposely designed this site for all trail users to enjoy. Folks, it was last Saturday's morning, that truly made our efforts worthwhile. We are hopeful that some; if not all of the runners that saw our bench will take a few moments to share your observations with your friends. Thanks.

Thad A. Jones
winner, Richmond Newspaper Marathon '91

06/03/2023

It's finished. This is final result when collaboration is front and centered. This is a story about strangers coming together to "do the right thing and during the journey, things were done right." On yesterday, the final touches were added to the Fifth Baptist Church Veterans Ministry Patriotic Bench site. The flowers are already growing with only one week in the ground. Feel free to visit the site. Our Facebook address is listed for comments and observations. Where is patriotic site? On the Cannon Trail near Fourquean Ln and Richmond Henrico Turnpike. We are very grateful to our Lord for giving us the supporters, workers, and resources for this community initiative.

05/30/2023

Hi Followers, I am trying to become more proficient and efficient with attaching a video and such to my page. I am hopeful that I got it right. If I did, please carve 5-minutes from your schedule and look at the DVD that was shown to the Fifth Baptist Church Congregation last Sunday. This was our small way to show and tell the living relatives that their love ones may be no longer with us, but they are not forgotten.

05/30/2023

Hello Followers,
Yesterday was Memorial Day. It was a time to remembered our Gone But Not Forgotten Comrades. I hope that you took some time out of your schedule to "just think" about the goodness of friends, family members, neighbors, battle buddies, etc. that served honorably in the military, but are now resting peacefully in Heaven. Please take about 5-minutes to review the DVD that was shown to the Fifth Baptist Church Congregation last Sunday. Feel free to comment on it. If you see someone that you know, salute him or her.

05/28/2023

Now that I am aggressively checking items from my bucket list, maybe it's time to spend some time updating our message feed.

Several weeks ago, the gentleman (veteran) and me(guardian) participated in the Old Dominion Honor Flight Mission 4 event. We, and hundred of veterans and guardians from around the country spent the day visiting the Marine Corps Museum, Vietnam Wall of Honor, Korea War Wall of remembrance, WW II Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was a long, yet eventful and excited day. I am encouraging all veterans to learn more about the honor Flight missions by Goggling it.

05/27/2023

Our Veterans Ministry Patriotic Bench was almost a MIA story. Two months ago, an angel reached out to us to tell us that our bench on the Cannon Trail had to be moved. Construction equipment was all around our bench. Trees were gone. Bulldozer and other heavy earth moving equipment was on site and very active. We were able to move our bench, rocks, flags, and some flowers.

The same angel introduced me to several agencies to assist with moving the bench. We were able to partnered with three agencies to help us move the bench, relocate to a new site, helped with purchasing flowers and mulch, metal border installed and some volunteers to help with planting and landscaping the new site.

As we approach our Memorial Day weekend, the new site is ready. It is a beautiful site. It is more accessible and more visible than the previous site. During this Memorial Day, feel free to visit the site to pay homage to those gone, but not forgotten comrades. The site is at Fourquean Ln and Richmond Henrico Turnpike. We are very grateful to our Lord for orchestrating the entire process. We thank all of our partners that assisted us from the beginning until last Friday while planting flowers and spreading mulch.

There are many Memorial Day events occurring throughout RVA, Virginia, and our nation. May God Bless the United States of America.

04/25/2023

Just when we thought that walkers, joggers, runners, and cyclists were enjoying the CJK Trail...especially the scenery at the Fifth Baptist Church Veterans Ministry Patriotic Resting Bench, we had to uproot the site and move. If you are unaware, there is a major development occurring at the old Dove Street Armory. Homes will be built. Street and trail enhancements are parts of the new housing community and area that will surround the new homes.

Many of you have taken the journey with us when we started this project more than 2-years ago. In fact, some of you made monetary donations to help us with the beautifying the patriotic site as part of our 5-year plan. Today, we are quite sad that we had to move to make way for homes. The city of Richmond contacted us to give us an opportunity to remove the bench, rocks, and flags. Sadly we are leaving the flowers. We are heartbroken. We invested our own money, time and resources into beautifying the site known as the "patriotic resting bench for the trail users. We hope that those of you that had an opportunity to pass by, or even took at rest at the patriotic site, you enjoyed it.

We are hopeful that the city of Richmond and members of our community will rally around us to help make the next patriotic resting site even better than the previous site. Once the next site is selected, we are inviting users of the trail will invest their time and resources to help us maintain and beautify the area for many years.

11/08/2021

Veterans Day is this coming Thursday, November 11, 2021.

How many businesses are you going to dine in or take out?

Businesses offering free or discounted products and services:
Bob Evans-full meal Golden Corral-full meal
Denny-full meal Texas Roadhouse (voucher 11-2p.m)
Famous Dave’s Dunkin donuts-doughnut
Outback Steakhouse-10% Hooters-wings
Mission BBQ-sandwich Red Lobster-appetizer IHOP-pancakes TCBY-froyo
Red Robin-burger Krispy Kreme-doughnut
Applebee’s-full meal Olive Garden-full meal
Bonefish Grill-10% Starbucks-coffee
Buffalo Wild Wings-10 wings Wendy’s-sandwich
Chili’s-full meal Huddle House-breakfast
Cracker Barrel-cake O’Charley’s-full meal
Little Caesar-pizza Sheetz-sub and car wash
Great Clips (haircut voucher) QuakerStationLube-50%

Enjoy your day and take advantage of these products and services.