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Maleah Evans

Member of The Eagles Joe Walsh performs at the VetsAid concert. Walsh co-founded VetsAid in 2017 with his wife Marjorie to raise money for veteran organizations and to honor his father.

Over the weekend, guitarist of The Eagles and Wichita native Joe Walsh returned to his hometown for the 9th annual VetsAid benefit concert at Intrust Bank Arena on Nov. 15. 

VetsAid is a non-profit organization started by Walsh and his wife, Marjorie Bach aimed to raise money for veterans. Since its inception in 2017, VetsAid has raised $4 million, according to a KMUW interview. 

“Tonight we’re going to have some fun, pay respects, enjoy fellowship (and) reconnect with what America means to us,” Walsh said in the press Q&A before the concert. “If tonight we can come together, honor our past while dreaming big for the future … then I’ve done my job, and that’s what VetsAid is all about. Let’s raise some money tonight … (to) support our vets.” 

Walsh’s father, Robert Newton Fiddler, a Wichita native and a Wichita State alumnus, was a veteran. Fiddler served as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force, and was killed in a collision in 1949. 

Walsh expressed that seeing VetsAid grow beyond what was anticipated is one of his wildest dreams. 

“I asked some of my fellow musicians … if they would consider coming, and across the board it was ‘hell yes,’ and that’s America,” he said. “Hoping the vets will know that we care … we go where the vets are and we find out what they need, and we take care of that to keep them going. 

“It really is an American thing. There’s no politics in this at all. People come together.” 

The arena was nearly sold out, with over 5,000 people in attendance. Wichitans and veterans attended the benefit concert, and each donation and money spent went directly back to support veteran organizations in Wichita, like the Wichita Police and Fire Foundation, Wichita Kansas Intertribal Warrior Society, KanVet United Organization, among others.

The concert featured performances from Ryan Bingham and The Texas Gentlemen, Vince Gill accompanied by Nathaniel Rateliff and Walsh himself with special guests Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks. 

Editor’s Note: A former version of this article noted that Walsh was a former member of The Eagles. This has been updated to correctly name him as a current member.