This Veterans Day, IBEW Local 659 honors the many brothers and sisters in our ranks who served in uniform before joining the trade. Whether they’re inside wiremen, linemen, tree trimmers, utility workers or teledata technicians, our veteran members bring the discipline, teamwork and reliability they learned in the service to job sites across Oregon and Northern California every day.
To recognize that service, the IBEW International Office has created a Veterans Challenge Coin, available free of charge to any IBEW member who served in the U.S. or Canadian armed forces.
The coin is shaped like a dog tag, with the American flag on one side, Canada’s Maple Leaf on the other, and the IBEW logo on both. In military tradition, challenge coins represent loyalty, honor and the bonds built through shared service. This one also stands for the unity of our veteran members across both countries, and the pride they bring to our Brotherhood. Each member who requests a coin will also receive a personal letter of thanks from the International President.
Requesting a coin also helps the IBEW get a more accurate count of its veteran members. That number matters: it strengthens the union’s voice when advocating for veterans with elected leaders and community partners.
How to request your coin: Visit ibew01.formstack.com/forms/veteranchallenge and fill out the short form.
Get involved with our Veterans Committee.
Local 659’s Veterans Committee is already making a difference close to home. Just last week, Committee Chair and Journeyman David Yost and Hondo Guerrero, a foreman with Wright Tree Service, cut, split and delivered firewood to Kay Waldrop, a 21-year Army veteran in Keizer, to help keep her warm this winter. Read the full story here. https://www.ibew659.org/latest-news/veterans-committee-delivers-firewood-to-keizer-veteran
If you’re a veteran member, we’d love to have you involved. Visit our Committees page to learn more. https://www.ibew659.org/about/committees-information
And if you know a fellow veteran, in the trade or in our community, who could use a hand, let us know.
To every Local 659 member who served: thank you. We’re proud to stand alongside you.
https://ibew.org/electrical_worker/challenge-coin-honors-the-power-of-ibews-veteran-members/
