Las Vegas is in the middle of another Salute to the Troops, the annual USO welcome that puts service members and their families inside Mandalay Bay for a stretch of rest rather than a stage-managed unveiling.
A Las Vegas Sun photo gallery, published as the gathering began Thursday, frames this year's USO Experience: Salute to the Troops as a five-day run of activities and relaxation at Mandalay Bay.
The Welcome Already Has a History
The fullest written account of how the weekend works sits in the last two Novembers. In 2024, the Las Vegas Review-Journal described the 14th edition: dozens of wounded service members were given a hero's reception on Friday, greeted by hundreds of MGM Resorts employees, as part of the annual United Service Organizations Experience — Salute to the Troops.
That visit was a five-night Las Vegas stay. Veterans and their families were flown in for entertainment, dining and sightseeing, with Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts teamed with American Airlines. The receiving line was the company's own workforce.
What MGM Put on Paper for Year 15
The following November, MGM described a bigger guest list and the same resort. In a release carried by PR Newswire, the company said the celebration was "Now in its 15th year," a five-day event at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino "honoring more than 100 active-duty service members who have been injured in the line of duty."
Those honored guests and their families were to be flown to Las Vegas for an extended weekend, with MGM providing accommodations, meals, entertainment and special experiences. Hundreds of team members, community partners and local supporters were to line the path, cheer and thank them. The release laid out the plan. It was not a later tally of which pieces actually landed.
Thursday's Marker
This year's public marker is the Sun gallery and a familiar shape: five days at Mandalay Bay, starting Thursday. The hospitality on the record from 2024 and 2025 — flights, meals, a workforce turned out to applaud — is how MGM and the USO have built the salute. The part underway now is the stay itself.
