Veterans in Vestavia Hills will have a full day set aside in their honor on Monday, Nov. 9, with a morning tribute program and an afternoon packed with benefits counselors, health screeners and free legal help at the Civic Center. The city has built the Salute to Veterans into an annual tradition, and this year's keynote speaker is retired Army Maj. Gen. David Burford, who capped a 38-year military career across the active Army, Reserve and Alabama Army National Guard.
A Tradition Since 2016
According to Vestavia Voice, the city has held Salute to Veterans events around Veterans Day since 2016, and last year the Salute program and its companion resource event together drew more than 400 people. The outlet reports the Salute to Veterans program is set to run from 9 to 10 a.m. in the Magnolia Room, featuring light refreshments, entertainment and patriotic programming, and will honor veterans from all branches of service. Separately, a city events listing describes the annual Veterans Day celebration at the Civic Center as running from 2 to 4 p.m. that same day, so residents planning to attend should confirm specific program times before heading over.
The Salute's growth has been dramatic. Vestavia Voice notes the event began with just 25 to 30 veterans in attendance before swelling past 400 attendees combined with the resource fair last year. The report also points to earlier Veterans Day programming in the city, including a 2019 open house and resource fair at 1 p.m. followed by a program and keynote address at 2 p.m., and a 2025 Civic Center event that ran from noon to 5 p.m. and featured a senior luncheon, health and resources fair, and a patriotic program hosted by Mayor Ashley Curry.
Benefits, Health Screenings And Legal Aid Under One Roof
Per the same account, the Veterans Benefits and Resource Event is organized with the Central Alabama Veterans Collaborative and is slated to run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the upstairs ballroom, with free lunch provided. VA and Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs benefits service officers are expected to be on hand alongside VA health care enrollment officers, resource providers and employers, the outlet reports.
Veterans seeking help with VA benefits can ask whether a representative is accredited. The VA says accredited Veterans Service Organization representatives provide claim assistance free, while accredited attorneys and claims agents may charge fees only after an initial claim decision and completion of required fee-agreement and appointment paperwork. The distinction matters at a fair offering both benefits counseling and legal help: VA rules for accredited representatives cover who can assist with claims and when fees may apply.
The event also plans to bring specialized support not always easy for veterans to find in one place. The State Traumatic Head Injury Program is expected to offer free screening, navigation, education, peer mentoring and care coordination through five new traumatic brain injury centers, while BRAVO-Vets is described as helping veterans in the justice system navigate traumatic brain injury and mental health disorders, the report notes. A session on legal administrative remedies — including discharge upgrades — is planned, with legal assistance from C-Vets students at Cumberland School of Law and Legal Services of Alabama. Organizers also plan to offer grant writing guidance for nonprofits, small business startup support, one-on-one tech help through the University of Alabama LIFT program, and women veterans health services through the Birmingham VA Health Care System.
Alabama’s TBI services have expanded into a statewide network: the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services announced that its fifth center opened Sept. 30, 2026, completing a five-location initiative serving veterans and others in long-term recovery. The centers are part of a broader effort to bring brain-injury resources closer to communities, complementing the screening and navigation services planned for the Vestavia Hills event. The state agency’s announcement of the fifth center places that milestone just weeks before the Nov. 9 gathering.
The Collaborative Behind The Fair
The Central Alabama Veterans Collaborative traces its roots to a military culture training workshop held by the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services in January 2019, and Burford co-founded the group that year. It has since grown into a volunteer network of more than 200 partners across more than 100 agencies that meets once a month, according to Vestavia Voice.
Burford's own service extended well beyond his uniform years. He finished his career as a two-star major general serving as deputy commander for mobilization and reserve affairs at U.S. Special Operations Command and as special assistant to the chief of the National Guard Bureau, and he now serves as vice president of the National Veterans Day Foundation, which organizes Birmingham's Veterans Day parade — described in the report as the oldest in the country. Burford said people should honor veterans and that he seeks to make a difference, according to the outlet.
Veterans And Families Share Their Stakes
Brian Crawford, who joined the Naval Air Reserve in 1968 and served in the Philippines from 1969 to 1971, was named enlisted man of the month during his three years as an active reservist before spending 35 years in banking with AmSouth. He told Vestavia Voice that the country has forgotten veterans and that spouses need support too, pointing to challenges including homelessness. Crawford said he finds immense personal satisfaction in seeing veterans do better.
Mayor Ashley Curry, who served in the FBI for 25 years, brings her own family history to the cause: her father served in World War II and returned with PTSD and a brain injury, and her son served in the Air Force. Curry responded to a 1991 hostage incident as a member of the FBI's Birmingham SWAT team, when Cuban detainees seized a cell block at the federal prison in Talladega and held 10 federal employees hostage for 10 days, the outlet reports.
The event takes place at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center, 1090 Montgomery Highway. Given the discrepancy between the times reported for the Salute program and resource fair and the 2 to 4 p.m. window listed for the city's annual Veterans Day celebration, attendees are encouraged to check with the city directly for the final schedule.
