{"id":19217,"date":"2025-11-20T09:05:28","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T16:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/?p=19217"},"modified":"2025-11-19T15:57:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T22:57:43","slug":"nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Nominations Open for the 2025 El Paso County Veteran of the Year Award"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]<strong>November 20, 2025<\/strong> &#8211; The El Paso County Division of Veterans Services is pleased to announce that nominations are now open for the 2025 El Paso County Veteran of the Year Award. This annual recognition honors an outstanding local Veteran who has demonstrated exemplary military service, exceptional community involvement, and a lasting commitment to supporting fellow Veterans.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur Veterans continue to strengthen our community through their leadership, compassion, and service,\u201d said Vernon Stewart, El Paso County Community Resources Executive Director. \u201cThis award recognizes those who carry the spirit of service into their civilian lives and continue to make a positive impact here in El Paso County.\u201d<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>Nominations are accepted through April 1, 2026, and are open to Veterans who:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Have been honorably discharged or retired from the U.S. Armed Forces, including the Reserves, National Guard, or United States Merchant Marines<\/li>\n<li>Reside in El Paso County, Colorado<\/li>\n<li>Demonstrate an ongoing commitment to serving their community and supporting other Veterans<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>El Paso County has proudly honored a Veteran of the Year annually since 2017. Previous recipients include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Thomas Miller (2024)<\/li>\n<li>Joseph Lewis (2023)<\/li>\n<li>Roger Ehrke (2022)<\/li>\n<li>Skyler Nelson (2021)<\/li>\n<li>Nannette Br\u00e9d\u00e9 Mueller (2020)<\/li>\n<li>Duane France (2019)<\/li>\n<li>Victor Fernandez (2018)<\/li>\n<li>Leo Martinez (2017)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>Nominations must be submitted by <strong>April 1, 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>For more information or to submit a nomination, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/veterans.elpasoco.com\/veteran-of-the-year\">veterans.elpasoco.com\/veteran-of-the-year<\/a> or contact the El Paso County Division of Veterans Services at (719) 520-7750 or <a href=\"mailto:vet@elpasoco.com\">vet@elpasoco.com<\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]November 20, 2025 &#8211; The El Paso County Division of Veterans Services is pleased to announce that nominations are now open for the 2025 El Paso County Veteran of the Year Award. This annual recognition honors an outstanding local Veteran who has demonstrated exemplary military service, exceptional community involvement, and a lasting commitment to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":16749,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7913,1391,1673,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-resources","category-featured-news","category-news","category-veterans","category-7913","category-1391","category-1673","category-29","description-off"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Nominations Open for the 2025 El Paso County Veteran of the Year Award<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The El Paso County Division of Veterans Services is pleased to announce that nominations are now open for the 2025 Veteran of the Year Award.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nominations Open for the 2025 El Paso County Veteran of the Year Award\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The El Paso County Division of Veterans Services is pleased to announce that nominations are now open for the 2025 Veteran of the Year Award.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"El Paso County Colorado\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-20T16:05:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/epc-assets.elpasoco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Veteran-of-the-Year-NR-Post.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"AmyJoFields@elpasoco.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"AmyJoFields@elpasoco.com\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"AmyJoFields@elpasoco.com\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/#\/schema\/person\/841ff7a8026f3c8634a123755395aed5\"},\"headline\":\"Nominations Open for the 2025 El Paso County Veteran of the Year Award\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-20T16:05:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/\"},\"wordCount\":255,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/epc-assets.elpasoco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Veteran-of-the-Year-NR-Post.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Community Resources\",\"FEATURED NEWS\",\"NEWS\",\"Veterans\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/\",\"name\":\"Nominations Open for the 2025 El Paso County Veteran of the Year Award\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/epc-assets.elpasoco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Veteran-of-the-Year-NR-Post.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-20T16:05:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/#\/schema\/person\/841ff7a8026f3c8634a123755395aed5\"},\"description\":\"The El Paso County Division of Veterans Services is pleased to announce that nominations are now open for the 2025 Veteran of the Year Award.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/epc-assets.elpasoco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Veteran-of-the-Year-NR-Post.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/epc-assets.elpasoco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Veteran-of-the-Year-NR-Post.png\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"Square graphic image with blue background and the Division of Veterans Services logo at the top and wording that reads Veteran of the Year\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Nominations Open for the 2025 El Paso County Veteran of the Year Award\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/\",\"name\":\"El Paso County Colorado\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/#\/schema\/person\/841ff7a8026f3c8634a123755395aed5\",\"name\":\"AmyJoFields@elpasoco.com\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ac90212946216e798f15de8f1efbda07453db5f877b8689a161a70a52a5e34a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ac90212946216e798f15de8f1efbda07453db5f877b8689a161a70a52a5e34a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ac90212946216e798f15de8f1efbda07453db5f877b8689a161a70a52a5e34a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"AmyJoFields@elpasoco.com\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nominations Open for the 2025 El Paso County Veteran of the Year Award","description":"The El Paso County Division of Veterans Services is pleased to announce that nominations are now open for the 2025 Veteran of the Year Award.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nominations Open for the 2025 El Paso County Veteran of the Year Award","og_description":"The El Paso County Division of Veterans Services is pleased to announce that nominations are now open for the 2025 Veteran of the Year Award.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/","og_site_name":"El Paso County Colorado","article_published_time":"2025-11-20T16:05:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/epc-assets.elpasoco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Veteran-of-the-Year-NR-Post.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"AmyJoFields@elpasoco.com","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"AmyJoFields@elpasoco.com","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/"},"author":{"name":"AmyJoFields@elpasoco.com","@id":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/#\/schema\/person\/841ff7a8026f3c8634a123755395aed5"},"headline":"Nominations Open for the 2025 El Paso County Veteran of the Year Award","datePublished":"2025-11-20T16:05:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/"},"wordCount":255,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/epc-assets.elpasoco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Veteran-of-the-Year-NR-Post.png","articleSection":["Community Resources","FEATURED NEWS","NEWS","Veterans"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/","url":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/","name":"Nominations Open for the 2025 El Paso County Veteran of the Year Award","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/epc-assets.elpasoco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Veteran-of-the-Year-NR-Post.png","datePublished":"2025-11-20T16:05:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/#\/schema\/person\/841ff7a8026f3c8634a123755395aed5"},"description":"The El Paso County Division of Veterans Services is pleased to announce that nominations are now open for the 2025 Veteran of the Year Award.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/epc-assets.elpasoco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Veteran-of-the-Year-NR-Post.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/epc-assets.elpasoco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Veteran-of-the-Year-NR-Post.png","width":1080,"height":1080,"caption":"Square graphic image with blue background and the Division of Veterans Services logo at the top and wording that reads Veteran of the Year"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/nominations-open-for-the-2025-el-paso-county-veteran-of-the-year-award\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Nominations Open for the 2025 El Paso County Veteran of the Year Award"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/","name":"El Paso County Colorado","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/#\/schema\/person\/841ff7a8026f3c8634a123755395aed5","name":"AmyJoFields@elpasoco.com","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ac90212946216e798f15de8f1efbda07453db5f877b8689a161a70a52a5e34a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ac90212946216e798f15de8f1efbda07453db5f877b8689a161a70a52a5e34a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ac90212946216e798f15de8f1efbda07453db5f877b8689a161a70a52a5e34a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"AmyJoFields@elpasoco.com"}}]}},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-10 21:27:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19217"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19218,"href":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19217\/revisions\/19218"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}