The 33rd annual Rochester Area Prayer Breakfast will host Colonel Oliver North as key-note speaker on Thursday, May 1, 2014 at the Royal Park Hotel. North is a combat-decorated, retired Marine, best known for his 1987 testimony before Congress during the Iran-Contra hearings. At the already sold-out event, North will share his belief in faith, family and freedom and their importance in both our personal life and our nation.
Assigned to the National Security Council staff in the Reagan administration, Lt Col Oliver North was the U.S. government’s counter-terrorism coordinator from 1983-1986. He was involved in planning the rescue of 804 medical students on the island of Grenada and played a major role in the capture of the terrorists who hijacked the cruise ship Achille Lauro. After helping plan the U.S. raid on Muammar Qaddafi’s terror bases in Libya, North was targeted for assassination by Abu Nidal, the infamous terrorist killed in Baghdad in August, 2002. President Ronald Reagan described North as “an American hero.”
Since 2001, Oliver North has been the host of “War Stories” – the award-winning military documentary series on Fox News Channel. North serves on the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association and is the founder of Freedom Alliance, a non-profit foundation providing college scholarships to the sons and daughters of U.S. military personnel killed in the line of duty. He claims his most important accomplishment is being “the husband of one, the father of four and the grandfather of fourteen.”
North was born in San Antonio, Texas, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and served 22 years as a Marine officer. His awards for service in combat include the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for valor and two Purple Hearts for wounds in action.
“We are overwhelmed by the response to this event,” said Nancy Salvia, 2014 Prayer Breakfast chairperson. “I am pleased to announce that the sold-out event will be broadcast live on WLQV Faith Talk AM 1500 radio for those not able to attend this year.”
The Rochester Area Prayer Breakfast is an annual, non-denominational event held in recognition of the National Day of Prayer, instituted in 1952 by a joint resolution of Congress and then-President Harry S. Truman.
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