During the halftime show of its annual Military Appreciation football game on Nov. 23, Liberty University presented the 2024 George Rogers Champion of Freedom Award to local veteran retired Army Maj. Gen. Bob Dees, founder of the National Center for Healthy Veterans at Valor Farm.
The award is given annually to a man or woman who served in the U.S. Armed Forces and went above the call of duty, displaying extraordinary heroism while in the service and continuing to serve as an outstanding ambassador in their community. The honor is named after the late WWII veteran George Rogers, who narrowly survived the Bataan Death March after being held captive as a prisoner of war by the Japanese. Rogers worked for Liberty in various roles, including CEO for the “Old Time Gospel Hour” and as vice president of finance and administration before retiring in 1999.
Dees served 31 years in the U.S. Army, culminating in senior positions as Assistant Division Commander, 101st Airborne Division; Commander, 2nd Infantry Division, U.S Forces Korea; and Commander, U.S.-Israeli Combined Task for Missile Defense. He has been featured as one of 30 “Master Leaders” in America by noted author George Barna, recognized by the National Association of Evangelicals with the Centurion Award for commander support to military chaplains, and awarded the Council for National Policy George Washington Military Leadership Award.
Dees has continued to make a difference since retirement. He was an executive for Microsoft, led Campus Crusade Military Ministry, authored “The Resilience Trilogy (Resilient Warriors, Resilient Leaders, and Resilient Nations),” and served as Liberty’s Associate Vice President for Military Outreach, establishing the university’s Institute for Military Resilience, a faith-driven program that provides education to service members, their families, pastors, and caregivers on the various challenges linked to the invisible scars of war.
Dees left Liberty in 2016 to serve as Ben Carson’s national security advisor for his presidential campaign and then as Carson’s campaign chairman. In 2020, he founded the National Center for Healthy Veterans about 20 miles south of campus.
“America’s veterans are an untapped national treasure,” Dees said. “We are trying to help their full God-given potential resurface, get them healthy, and get them back out and do good things for America.”
Dees founded the center because he recognized the foreboding struggles many veterans face following service, including post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and a swarm of financial, marital, and addiction struggles. The nonprofit houses patriots for nine months while providing communal living to defeat feelings of isolation. The program offers hyperbaric oxygen therapy (which produces better circulation to the brain), dignified farm work, and a variety of faith-based programs that help veterans rediscover their God-given purpose.
The center is staffed with counselors, coaches, chaplains, and case managers as well as a dedicated team of volunteers who drive its mission forward. All staff members are required to meet a faith-based standard to maintain the center’s strong Christian culture.
“The at-risk veterans who come here may not have any faith; (they) may be agnostic or atheist. But the climate and environment are winsome and catching,” Dees said, noting that four patriots were baptized in 2024.
“It was a privilege to serve the sons and daughters of America and to see their selfless sacrifices in so many ways,” Dees said. “It’s only our privilege to lead them in uniform and beyond and to do everything possible to honor their service, help them heal, and get them back out and doing good things for America.”
