FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Leader of Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes honored for decades of service to combat-wounded veterans and their families
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Academy of United States Veterans (AUSV) is honored to present Mr. David W. Walker of Lovettsville, Virginia with the Frank Prautzsch Lifetime Achievement Award. The award will be presented to Mr. Walker at the 7th Annual Veterans Awards, taking place in Las Vegas, NV on January 22, 2022.
FRANK PRAUTZSCH LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Frank Prautzsch Lifetime Achievement Award is to be the most prestigious recognition of excellence in public service within the veterans community. It rewards the achievements and contributions of public service by an individual that leads to a more effective and responsive public administration in every corner of our land. This award is presented to an individual with philanthropic involvement for a minimum of 20 years. It honors those with a proven record of exceptional public service who continue to demonstrate outstanding civic and charitable responsibility. The award seeks individuals whose community service and leadership encourage others to take such roles in philanthropic activities across the globe.
This award is to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement and exceptional contributions to the military community and beyond.
ABOUT FRANK RAINER PRAUTZSCH
JULY 23, 1954 - JULY 15, 2021
Frank represented the best of the military community and was one of the most influential minds of our generation. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY and graduated with a B.S. in General Engineering in 1977 and completed the Command and General Staff College.
Frank later attended the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA, and graduated with an M.S. in Systems Technology in 1986. Over his military career, he served in a variety of technical and operational capacities on numerous global missions and focused his expertise on establishing satellite communications and the space domain as critical military enablers. He retired as Lieutenant Colonel from the U.S. Army in 1997 and was awarded the Military Legion of Merit.
ABOUT DAVID WALKER
Mr. Walker is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and earned his MBA with highest honors from the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. He later graduated from the Innovative Leadership Executive Management Program at Duke University's Fuqua School of Management.
In 2012, Mr. Walker was elected President and Chief Executive Officer of the Coalition to Salute America's Heroes, after having served the organization in a volunteer capacity from its founding and as a member of its Board of Directors for eight years. In 2019, he received the coveted Cavanaugh Award from Notre Dame in recognition of his outstanding public service at the Coalition.
Mr. Walker has tirelessly committed himself to serving the veterans community with a particular focus on the combat-wounded and their families. He has always been generous with his time, talent, and treasure.
Mr. Walker has been an indefatigable leader in the fight to increase recognition and support for America's wounded veterans for more than two decades. The veteran community is better for the contributions and expertise of this exceptional public servant, visionary and philanthropist.
His selfless service and leadership reflect great credit upon public service, the military community, and the United States of America.
"I am truly humbled to be recognized by the AUSV and to have my name associated with one of America's distinguished heroes, Frank Prautzsch," Walker said. "As head of the Coalition to Salute America's Heroes, it has been an honor of a lifetime to serve the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces, and their families, who have sacrificed so much to defend our freedoms and way of life. I accept this honor on behalf of my entire team, which works side-by-side daily with combat-wounded veterans, their caregivers, and families to provide emergency financial aid and other critical support. And I pledge to continue serving in the spirit of this Award as long as I am able.
ABOUT DAVID WALKER AND AUSV
Mr. Walker is an essential member and supporter of AUSV. He has been an avid champion of the organization since the first Veterans Awards in 2015. He is a perfect
example of notability, and is truly deserving of this acknowledgment, as he embodies the values the Frank Prautzsch Lifetime Achievement Award seeks to spotlight. His continuous support, passion, and dedication to AUSV's mission, as well as the veterans community at large, has proven to be invaluable to the cause of advocacy and sustainability.
"Mr. Walker's actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more. Through his leadership, he has instilled in our community an everlasting hope for success,” said Assal Ravandi, President of Academy of United States Veterans.
ABOUT THE COALITION TO SALUTE AMERICA'S HEROES
Since its establishment in 2004, the Coalition to Salute America's Heroes has provided an immediate, invaluable lifeline to thousands of America's combat-wounded veterans. The Leesburg, Va.-based organization is distinguished from other veteran-focused groups by its direct financial assistance to America's wounded heroes. Its Emergency Financial Aid program has stopped foreclosure proceedings on veterans' homes and kept their vehicles from being repossessed. Its innovative Heroes Thanking Heroes program provides transitional, part-time, flexible employment to nearly 50 combat-wounded veterans or their primary caregivers, enabling them to make phone calls from their homes, usually to personally thank donors for their contributions to the Coalition.
For more information on the Coalition, and to learn how you can support its mission, visit www.saluteheroes.org. Combat-wounded/disabled OIF/OEF/OND veterans are invited to join the Coalition and expand their camaraderie network by enrolling in the Veteran Circle program at http://saluteheroes-vetcircle.org.
ABOUT ANNUAL VETERANS AWARDS
The Veteran’s Awards is an annual award ceremony which recognizes veteran organizations, nominated by the community, for their extraordinary impact in various categories relating to mental health. The 7th Annual Veterans Awards will aim its focus on suicide prevention among veterans in America with AUSV's recently launched project, "Unexpected Voices”.
In attendance are members and honored guests of AUSV, along with influential members of our society, and veteran advocates. AUSV's mission is to raise awareness of the failures in our nation's resources for mental health solutions, and highlight the obstacles faced by veterans when seeking the help they were promised.
ABOUT UNEXPECTED VOICES
The Unexpected Voices program seeks to bring about actionable change to the barriers that veterans face in accessing mental health care. These barriers and consequent lack of access to mental health care can often contribute to veteran suicide. To bring about the change, Unexpected Voices provides a louder voice for our veterans by cultivating relationships with influential members of the community to raise the profile of these issues to the national media and public attention. In doing so, the attention of Congress will be ensured as their constituents and the national media call for action to address the deficiencies present in the current Mental Health Care system for veterans that far too often result in suicide.
ABOUT AUSV
Academy of United States Veterans Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization known for founding the Annual Veterans Awards. AUSV believes that collaborative communities can be a vehicle to bring real opportunities for society. By encouraging creativity in this cooperative environment, AUSV hopes to create a new narrative for our veterans and for all Americans. For more information, please visit: https://www.ausvfoundation.org/
###
MEDIA CONTACT
Katie Katz
Director of Public Relations
and External Affairs
(O) 703.224.4431
(M) 702.574.6700