SLIDESHOW: Veterans Pinned to Mark Their Service to Our Country

Heritage at Framingham Senior Community invited Veterans from Framingham, Sudbury and Ashland for lunch to thank them for their service to the United States.

After the Veterans Day lunch, veterans were awarded a certificate and received a pin from the American Association of Wartime Veterans.

U.S. Marine Corps. Sgt. Elliot Chefitz of Dorchester personally pinned each veteran, as his father David, announced each name. The elder Chefitz is associated with the American Association of Wartime Veterans.

The American Association of Wartime Veterans is a privately held community outreach service formed in 2002 to educate wartime veterans, surviving spouses and their families on the Aid and Attendance pension under the Improved Pension Program (IPP) payable by the Department of Veteran Affairs. 

The Association works in harmony with assisted living and private pay nursing home communities to educate veterans and families on the benefit, its qualifications, and what is needed to apply.

Many American wartime veterans are unaware that they may be entitled to the Aid and Attendance Benefits. The Association has been educating Veterans since 2002.

This was the first year Heritage at Framingham had invited communities, and not just its residents, to a Veterans Day celebration.