Veterans come together in town hall to share their stories

Veterans were honored all over today with multiple ceremonies happening throughout Mid-Michigan.

Veterans Day gives us the chance to hear from those who served and ask them what that time was like, but for many of them, it can be difficult to talk about.

"Who I am today was very much born in battle and was born from that service," said Geoff Roberts, an Army Veteran.

Roberts is using his sixth Veterans Day to share his story of service.

"I think it's always important to get out stories out there and have people hear our stories and understand us a little bit more," Roberts said.

At 19-years-old, Roberts made the biggest decision of his life, to leave his small town of Croswell to enlist in the Army.

"Those formative years were spent while in the army and many those months spent in Iraq," Roberts said.

After Roberts, dozens of veterans from Iraq to World War II took to the podium to share their own stories.

The University of Michigan Flint Riverfront Banquet Center was filled with both laughter and tears joined by Congressman Dan Kildee.

For Congressman Kildee, hosting this town hall meeting on Veterans Day holds a special place in his heart.

Two years ago, he lost his father, a Korean Veteran, who he said inspired him to get into politics and host events like these.

"I really learned it mostly from my dad," Kildee said.

Kildee plans on hosting more veterans town hall meetings in the future because of the overwhelming turn out.

"It's a unique contribution that they make," Kildee said. "It's something that we ought to mark not just on Veterans Day, but every day. This is a chance to reflect on that contribution that they make it's pretty amazing."

Roberts said hearing everyone's stories will help him open up more in the future.

"Thinking about the contributions of those that came before me just allows me to appreciate what I was able to do so much more and how I contributed to history really," Roberts said.