WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar released the following statement on Jerry Kyser, a Vietnam Veteran from Roseville, being named a 2016 Ellis Island Medal of Honor recipient. The Medal will be presented to Jerry and other recipients from across the country on Saturday, May 7^th on Ellis Island. Kyser holds positions as the Executive Director of MN Vietnam Veterans Charity, President of Cities Honor Flight Twin Cities, Vice Chairman of United Veterans Legislative Council, and Co-Chairman of Military Action Group. He is also the Stillwater Prison Veterans Group Volunteer and a Pilot for the Commemorative Air Force.  

“Jerry Kyser has served our country and state honorably for decades, and is a leader in Minnesota’s veterans’ community. I’ve gotten to know Jerry well from his work with the Twin Cities Honor Flight program. Through his leadership, Minnesota veterans are able to come to our nation’s capital and see the monuments built in their honor. Jerry is very deserving of the prestigious and selective Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and I congratulate him and thank him for his service.”   

Since 1986, the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations-NECO has sponsored the Ellis Island Medals of Honor, which has been officially recognized by both House of Congress as one of our nation’s most prestigious awards. Six Presidents of the United States have received the Medal, as well as esteemed Americans such as Frank Sinatra, Lee Iacocca, Quincy Jones, Muhammad Ali, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, Louis Zamperini and Rosa Parks, just to name a few.

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