Buchanan Honors Six Local Veterans with Congressional Commendation

October 24, 2022 – Bradenton

In an awards ceremony last night at the Manatee Players Theatre, Congressman Vern Buchanan honored the recipients of his inaugural Congressional Veteran Commendation. Buchanan established the awards to honor the wartime sacrifices and peacetime community involvement of veterans residing in Florida’s 16th Congressional District.

“I established these awards to recognize our local heroes that have valiantly served both our country in uniform and our community,” said Buchanan. “While we will never be able to fully repay the honorees for their selfless sacrifices, I hope the Congressional Veteran Commendation helps express how grateful our community truly is for their service.”

An independent panel of veterans reviewed nominations and chose the following six veterans for their wartime and post-military service:

• Edward J. Mahoney of Sun City Center who served in the U.S. Marine Corp during World War II
• John V. Skeen of Bradenton who served in the U.S. Army during World War II
• John J. Brill of Longboat Key who served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War
• Richard J. Petrucci of Lakewood Ranch who served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War
• Richard M. Swier of Sarasota who served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War
• David W. Daily of Bradenton who served in the U.S. Army during the Gulf War

Florida’s 16^th Congressional District is home to over 70,000 veterans. 

Buchanan has a strong record of fighting for veterans and military families. Last year, a Buchanan measure to reduce military training accidents following the death of Bradenton soldier Nicolas Panipinto was enacted into law. Buchanan also re-introduced the Veterans Overmedication and Suicide Prevention Act, which requires the VA to study the link between addictive opioids and the alarmingly high rate of suicides among veterans, and the Veterans Eligible to Transfer School (VETS) Credit Act, which helps student veterans by ensuring they are able to quickly and easily transfer their course credits to another institution should their school close or program end suddenly.The VETS Credit Act was unanimously passed by the U.S. House with broad bipartisan support earlier this year.