This tribute was submitted by a reader as part of our Veterans Week initiative, brought to you by VFW Post 291, Agent of VFW Ohio Charities. If you’d like to celebrate a veteran in your life, click here to share your tribute. Together, let’s recognize these heroes and ensure their contributions are not forgotten. 

Chad Mikel Roberts and Vanessa Batten Roberts

Submitted by Debbie Barker

Branch of service: Air Force SMSGT (Chad) and TSGT (Vanessa)

Chad Mikel Roberts, son of Debbie Barker and the late Mikel Roberts served in the USAF from January 1996 to October 2018. Chad graduated from Mansfield Senior High School in 1995. His wife, Vanessa also served in the USAF from August 2005 until early 2019 and hails from Lansing, Michigan.
Chad comes from a long line of veterans from both of his grandfathers, to many great-uncles, uncles and cousins who served in almost every branch of the US Military. This tribute is for all of them, but for the sake of space I'll focus on Chad & Vanessa! I am very proud of both of them and their service and accomplishments throughout their military career. Chad was deployed during the Iraq War, and also supported Operation Enduring Freedom in Iraq, Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates. I am so thankful that he came home safe from each of those deployments. Vanessa also supported Operation Enduring Freedom in the UAE. They now reside in Waynesville, Ohio after retiring from the USAF.
To all of our veterans – THANK YOU! General Omar Bradley said that "Veterans are God's gift to us, their gift to the world is freedom." May we never forget.

MORE TRIBUTES