Veteran's Embracing Troops (V.E.T)

In 2007, a petition was submitted to this institution’s administration asking permission to form an Inmate Leisure Time Activity Group (ILTAG), exclusively for the benefit of veterans. The prison approved the request, and with the help of my brothers, we created V.E.T., Veterans Embracing Troops. To share a little about my military roots, I am a decorated U.S. Army vet. My father, Emerson Maytubby McCarter was a decorated retiree of the U.S. Air Force, a P.O.W. for 5 years and a survivor of the infamous Bataan Death March. My grandfather, Pete Maytubby, was a Code Talker in World War 1 and Chief of the Chickasaw Nation.

Our group contains vets from all branches of service. Vietnam vets, Korean P.O.W.’s, Iraq and Desert Storm vets, and others. Our goals are to help raise funds for outside veteran groups and related organizations, and to assist all veterans incarcerated on this facility.

Today, after ten years of active service, our group is proud to have assisted many wonderful organizations, like the Blue Star and Gold Star Mothers, Thank-A-Vet, Fisher House, and more. We painted a veterans mural to pay homage to vets, and it was showcased in books, magazines, and an HBO special.

In 2017, V.E.T. began a letter writing campaign for vets serving overseas. We are raising funds for a local cemetery that has vets buried without headstones or markers. In addition, we established a portrait donation program for Gold Star families. V.E.T. will continue to be ‘all we can be’, as veterans of the armed services and patriots of this great country.

From V.E.T. and myself, God bless you and God bless the United States of America.
Andrew Kicking Horse
U.S. Army Veteran