An honor to help veterans

Fort Worth has long been military-friendly, partly because of the long military presence here and partly because it’s the right thing to do.

The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce is a stalwart of that tradition. On Thursday, the chamber was honored for supporting military veterans.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation gave the local group its highest award in the nationwide Hiring Our Heroes program that helps find meaningful employment for veterans, transitioning service members and military spouses.

British and American pilots began flight training at airfields here during World War I, and soldiers trained at Camp Bowie. World War II brought the “bomber plant” and Carswell Air Force Base on the city’s west side.

Carswell transitioned into a Strategic Air Command Base and then a Navy joint reserve base, and the bomber plant now builds advanced military aircraft.

You could say Fort Worth is a military town.

This story was originally published July 30, 2015 at 5:23 PM with the headline "An honor to help veterans."