Help honor Johnson County veterans during the county’s 2022 Veterans Day Observance, scheduled for Friday, Nov. 11.

This year’s event will take place at the Lenexa National Guard Armory, 18200 West 87th Street Parkway, located just west of Renner Road.

The event begins at 11 a.m. and honors all veterans from all Armed Forces for their military service. It signals the return of an in-person celebration after three years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Veterans Day Observance took place virtually in 2020 and 2021.

The event is open for the public to attend, and it will also be livestreamed on Johnson County’s Facebook page or online at jocogov.org/JoCoHonorsVets.

Ed Eilert, chairman of the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners, will emcee the program, which will include:

• patriotic music by the Olathe Northwest High School band and special songs by the Sunflower Elementary School choir in Lenexa
• presentation of colors and placement of memorial wreaths by local veteran organizations
• playing of “Taps” and traditional rifle salute

The program’s featured speaker will be retired Kansas Army National Major General Lloyd Krase, a native Kansan now residing in Lenexa. Following 41 years of service, he was inducted into the Kansas National Guard Hall of Fame in 2010.

Johnson County’s annual Veterans Day Observance began in 1987 with public services on the south steps of the old Johnson County Courthouse in downtown Olathe. It then moved to the Kansas National Armory in west Olathe from 1995 to 2006.

Since 2007, the county event has occurred at locations throughout Johnson County, including the cities of Olathe, Lenexa, Overland Park, Merriam, Gardner and the New Century AirCenter.

For more information about this year’s event, contact the Johnson County Manager’s Office at 913-715-0725. You can find more details on our event webpage.