ACES was started in l990 during Desert Shield. My son, Shawn Beaver and I were sure we would be going to war and wanted to be sure that what happened during Vietnam did not happen again. We knew only to well how the military men and women were treated when they came home. My brother, Larry, who was only nineteen when he came home was spit on and called a baby killer. We believed the best way to insure this did not happen again was to go out in the community and encourage support for our Military

We held support rallies and were pleasantly surprised at the amount of people who showed up to support the troops. We chose the name ACES for these volunteers. ACES was the name used by the military to describe the best fighter pilots and we felt we wanted to be the best troop supporters.

We asked questions of Veterans to decide what would mean the most to them. From those answers we set about trying to meet that criteria. We did not want to focus on just one way to support them so we incorporated all that we could, which included Welcome Homes, Care Packages, Rallies, Parades, and help for our wounded. We also encouraged our volunteers to educate themselves about our military’s needs. We realized we would not be able to meet all their needs Therefore we educated ourselves about other organizations to which we could refer them.

Shawn and I have no doubt that this country and our freedom are gifts from those who are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. We know that Freedom isn’t Free and we realize the awesome burden our military men and women carry to protect our freedom. We found that a simple thank you could bring a smile from our Vets. Our goal is to encourage everyone to help meet the needs of our military whether we are at peace or in war. 


Carol Boe
Founder
American Citizens Encouraging Support