Veterans Day Ceremony
Open to the public and all veterans, seating will be available.
A Veterans Day Ceremony to celebrate and honor America’s veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice will be held on Saturday, November 7, 2026, at 11 a.m. at the Frisco Veterans Memorial in Frisco Commons Park, 8000 McKinney Road, Frisco, TX 75033. The American Legion Post 178 and Auxiliary Unit 178 are coordinating the ceremony. Music provided by the Frisco Community Band, National Anthem performed by Leslie Rainey.
The ceremony will include the NJROTC, special guests from the City of Frisco and keynote speaker Rick Grady, a decorated veteran Army Commendation Medal, the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, and earned four bronze combat battle stars.
Rick Grady retired from Cornerstone Credit Union League as Vice President for Research and Economics to serve his community. While at the League he led all primary and secondary investigations on economic issues affecting financial institutions and consumers. He was a lobbyist and advocated on behalf of consumers and community financial institutions, especially during the Great Recession of 2008-2009 and the Savings and Loan failures in the mid 1980’s. His 30 years of financial and technology experience created opportunities to author position papers on banking laws and regulations. Currently he is a deal partner in the private equity firm Blackmore Partners.
Rick serves or served as:Board Member and chairman of the Collin Central Appraisal District
- Board Member and president of the Collin County Homeless Coalition
- Board Member and Secretary of The Turning Point and member of the Finance Committee
- Board Member of The Samaritan Inn and member of the Governance Committee
- Board Member of the Texas 600 Continuum of Care and member of the Governance Committee
- Board Member, Founder and Commander of the Collin County Veterans Coalition
- Member and Past Chair of the Texas Health Resources Foundation Collin County Leadership Council
- Member of Congressman Keith Self’s Veterans Advisory Committee
- Member of the City of Plano’s Community Relations Commission
- Member of the Hendrick Scholarship Foundation Selection Committee and Coaching Coordinator
- Cornerstone Member of the National Medal of Honor Museum
- Former Board Member of the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance and member on the Veterans Committee
- Former Board Member of the Community Lifeline Center
- Former Board Member of the National League of Cities, and former member of the:
- Finance, Administration and Intergovernmental Relations Committee
- Large Cities Council
- Military Communities Council
- Former Board Member of the Texas Municipal League and member of the Legislative Committee
- Former Chair of the Emergency Preparedness Planning Council of the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG)
- Former Chairman of Plano’s Planning and Zoning Commission
- Former Councilman and Mayor Pro-Tem, City of Plano
- Former Member of NCTCOG Regional Transportation Council, and former member of the:
- Broadband Committee
- Unmanned Aerial Systems Committee
- Former Member of the Dallas Regional Mobility Coalition
- Former President, Texas Municipal League Region 13
- Former Regional Director of the Texas Municipal League Region 13
Rick started his community service at the age of 13 when he joined the Civil Air Patrol, a U.S. Air Force Auxiliary that performs three congressionally assigned key missions: emergency search and rescue, disaster relief operations and aerospace education.
He joined the ROTC program in college and performed his active-duty service with the United States Army, his first tour with the Military Assistance Command Vietnam as an intelligence specialist, and then his second tour with the U.S. Army 1st Aviation Brigade leading a company of forward air controllers and pathfinders in Vietnam. In total, he spent 730 days in the jungles of Vietnam.
He was ceremoniously decorated multiple times with the Army Commendation Medal, the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, and earned four bronze combat battle stars. In 2017 Rick was honored on the floor of the United States Congress with the Congressional Veterans Commendation awarded by U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson.
In civilian life Rick led public relations, M&A, and intelligence activities for Fortune 500 companies such as Affiliated Computer Services, Computer Task Group, and, for 20 years, at Electronic Data Systems, where he worked in mergers and acquisitions, corporate intelligence, sales training and spearheaded technological developments in SaaS, microcomputer networks, Internet technologies and cloud-based operations.
He also served with the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), The IndUS Entrepreneurs Association (TIE) as its Executive Director of the venture-capital trade association, as senior partner of two public relations agencies and, for ten years, a rating-busting rock & roll disc jockey for two leading commercial radio stations.
He is and has been involved with organizations such as the:
- Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
- Air Force Association
- American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
- American Legion
- American Veterans Association
- Army Aviation Association of America
- Association of the United States Army
- Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals
- Civil Air Patrol
- Collin County Homeless Coalition
- Collin County Veterans’ Coalition
- Dallas Regional Mobility Coalition
- Emergency Preparedness Planning Council
- Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance
- Military Order of World Wars
- National League of Cities
- National Medal of Honor Museum
- Non-Commissioned Officers Association
- North Central Texas Council of Governments
- Regional Transportation Council
- Texas Municipal League
- Texas-600 Continuum of Care
- University of Wisconsin Alumni Association
- Unmanned Aerial Systems Committee
- Veterans of Foreign Wars
- Vietnam Veterans of America.