Scottsdale’s Veterans Day Commemoration will take place at 3 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, at McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park, 7301 E. Indian Bend Road. It is free and open to the public.
This year’s keynote speaker, Rose Mattie, was deployed to Iraq from 2003-2005, then again from 2009-10, with several roles in between. In 2011, the army selected Mattie to be part of an elite female program where she was deployed with the Green Berets to an Afghan village supporting the Navy SEALs.
After completing that assignment, she was accepted into pilot training. She received her wings in 2013 and flew helicopters for the Arizona National Guard until 2018. During that time, she earned a business degree and became the first recorded servicewoman to attend the military’s Aviation Life Support and Equipment course while seven months pregnant with her second child. Today, Mattie and her family live in Chandler, where she spends her days as a full-time mom.
Scottsdale’s annual Veterans Day commemoration is emceed by Mayor David D. Ortega and also includes remarks from Joan Fudala, Air Force veteran and community historian.
The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary Arizona Band kicks off the program at 3 p.m. with a half-hour of patriotic music. |
