Valley Masonic Lodge #175 of Burnet hosted a Veterans Day Program Nov. 8, 2025, to honor all veterans and make a special presentation to the Gold Star Holbrook Family in remembrance of their son Capt. Jason E. Holbrook, a 2000 graduate of Burnet High School in Burnet Capt. Jason E. Holbrook, 28, died July 29, 2010, supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Tsagay, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when insurgents attacked their military vehicle with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C.
Capt. Holbrook was a 2004 graduate of West Point, Green Beret, Ranger, member of the Army Special Forces, and a graduate of the Special Forces Qualification Course. He had previously served in Iraq before deploying to Afghanistan. He was deployed as part of Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan. He has been awarded a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, and a Meritorious Service Medal.
Joining Valley Masonic Lodge #175 to Post Our Colors in Honor of Veterans Day, were the 1st Cavalry Division Honor Guard, the face of the Army, Fort Hood and the First Team throughout Texas and the nation. They were accompanied by Col. James Leidenberg, Ft Hood Division G-2, 1st Cavalry Division and his wife, Col. Katherine Leidenberg, who were classmates with Capt. Holbrook at West Point.
The Gold Star Holbrook Family was presented with framed pictures and a wreath honoring Capt. Holbrook from Wreaths Across America.
A “Remembrance Tree Tag” has been placed in section 36 on the Balsam Valley Tip Land in Jonesboro, ME. Capt. Jason Holbrook’s tree will stand as his living memorial for the lifetime of the tree.
The tree will be tipped every three years and those tips will be used to make veterans remembrance wreaths that will be placed on other veterans’ graves across the country on National Wreaths Across America Day. This year, National Wreaths Across America Day will be held on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025.
