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NEWS | Nov. 13, 2018

Army Reserve leader helps build bikes for military children

By Staff Sgt. Shawn Morris 99th Readiness Division

The U.S. Army Reserve’s 99th Readiness Division joined pharmaceutical company Pfizer and the USO of Metropolitan New York on Nov. 8 to build bicycles for military children at Pfizer World Headquarters here.

Maj. Gen. Troy D. Kok, 99th DIV(R) commanding general, served as keynote speaker for the event, which was one of dozens of engagements held throughout the city as part of the U.S. Army’s Meet Your Army Week.

“It’s greatly important that everyone in America understands what service is all about; you don’t necessarily have to be in uniform in order to serve,” Kok said. “Look at what the USO does with volunteers all around the United States.”

The event was part of a USO program called Operation: That’s My Ride, in which the USO partners with organizations throughout the holiday season in order to present brand new bikes, helmets, and instruction manuals for safe cycling to children of military families. This year, Pfizer pledged to build 1,000 bikes at eight corporate locations nationwide.

“I can’t thank Pfizer enough for this great opportunity to be able to build these bikes for Soldiers’ children,” Kok said.

Kok added that the Army’s greatest asset is its people, and asked all in attendance to be mindful of all the veterans who have served, and continue to serve, in the armed forces.

“Armistice Day was founded in 1918 at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month as the end of the greatest war that man had ever known,” Kok said. “That day was turned into Veterans Day, when veterans from all wars are celebrated as heroes. 

“As we’ve seen in the past 100 years, World War I – the ‘war to end all wars’ – did not end all wars,” he continued. “We’ve been many places in that 100 years, protecting our freedoms and others’ freedoms around the world, remembering what this great dream called America is all about.”