DB | David Rice

“As far as I’m concerned every day is Veteran’s Day … every day,” said Gene Simmons, lead singer of the iconic rock band Kiss. Simmons spoke Sunday at the inaugural VetFest BeerBQue in Manhattan Beach, a fund-raiser for veterans organizations.

The event also raised money for scholarships in the names of Manhattan Beach public servants who died in the Route 91 shootings last October in Las Vegas –special education teacher Sandy Casey and police records technician Rachael Parker.

The event featured 24 different craft beers, a barbecue dinner and music by Yachty by Nature.

“I had no idea that Gene Simmons had such a connection to veterans,” said Ken Deemer, president of the Manhattan Beach Rotary Club, which set the event in motion. “What he said was very moving to me.”

“I am an immigrant from Israel and came here to the United States with my mother at age 8,” Simmons said. “If not for the military, my mother and my whole family would have been killed in the Nazi concentration camps of World War II. I am forever indebted to the military for that.”

Kinecta Federal Credit Union co-sponsored the event.

Team Rubicon, one of the organizations that benefited from the event, is a veteran-based volunteer organization that provides disaster response.

“It makes me proud that they are doing this today to honor veterans,” said Frank Ye, a 33-year Army veteran who served two tours in Vietnam. “I was proud to serve my country.”