A luncheon was held on Veterans Day, at the VFW Post 2112 in Sparta, for all veterans staying in the local nursing homes. Rolling Hills and the Morrow Home shuttled in all veterans that wanted to attend. Some veterans were accompanied by family members, to include wives, daughters and sons. As the veterans stepped in from the cold, they were greeted by the smiling faces of the VFW volunteers, who promptly thanked them for their service.
Another wave of smiles flowed in after the initial greeting. These youthful smiles belonged to the local Girl Scout Troop 8211, who handed a program for the event to each veteran, as they entered. After the veterans had programs in hand, the young 4th grade volunteers escorted them to their seats. These super-star volunteers were Ella Rademan, Gwen Chapman, Jade Vian, Erin Tadisch, Savannah Frisk and Delaine Gluch. They helped to put smiles on other faces as well.
Once the guests of the VFW were seated, they enjoyed the calm musical stylings of Christin and Tony Gasner. The veterans chatted with each other and several others in attendance, to include members of their own families. There were also volunteers from the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association, like Scott Fisher. Fisher also helped to clear the plates from tables, when veterans had finished eating. Prior to the luncheon, Fisher had also participated in the honoring of veterans, at Blyton Park.
Pastor Jim Scafe gave the benediction. Right after the prayer and a brief message from VFW Post 2112 Commander, Trent Davenport, the Girl Scouts started bringing out the dinners to the veterans. Michelle Rademan and Emily Chapman, leaders of Troop 8211, were making sure that their scouts knew where to go and how to operate within the dining hall. The young scouts brought the dinners out to the veterans, until all had been served. The meal consisted of: lasagna, green beans, garlic bread and ice cream. Upon serving the last guest, the Girl Scouts concentrated on eating as well. The garlic bread and ice cream seemed to be popular with the young helpers.
Towards the end of the meal, VFW Chaplain, Tom Schauer, started reading off the names of those veterans who were in attendance and some who were not, telling everyone a little bit about the history of each veteran. “I try to mention each veteran’s name at least three times,” Schauer said. “Even if they are not in attendance, they deserve to be honored.”
The names of the veterans from Rolling Hills are as follows:
Leon Brown - US Army 1954-1955. He served in Korea, as a telegraph operator in the signal corps.
Leslie Blum - US Army 1964-1966 Served in Vietnam, as a truck driver, with the 1st Infantry Division.
Stephen Knoll – US Army 1969 – 1970 Served in Vietnam, as a rock crusher engineer, with the 73rd Engineers. Knoll was in attendance with his wife, Patti.
Harland Creviston – US Army 1962-1964 Served as an MP (Military Police), at Arlington Hall, in Washington D.C.
Roger Jerome – US Army Served his time in Germany. Jerome attended with his wife, Ruthie.
Gale Rugg – US Navy Telecommunications field. Served in California, Washington D.C. and Alaska.
Gordon Johnson – US Army 1965-1967 He served as a missile man in Alaska. Recalls that everyone wore guns in Fairbanks and it was not uncommon to see a gunfight.
Victor Tucker – US Army 1950 – 1952 Awarded the Purple Heart for injuries sustained during his time in the Korea War. Tucker was an infantryman
The names from the Morrow Home are as follows:
Roy Barker – US Army 1970-1972 Served in Vietnam as a truck driver, with the 507th Engineer Battalion.
Jack Benning – US Army 1958-1960 He served in Gelenhausen, Germany as an artillery man.
Robert Donaldson - US Air Force 1962-1966 He served as an aircraft mechanic at Chenute Air Force Base, in Illinois.
James Hendricks – US Army Served as an administrative specialist in Korea, during the Korean War. Hendricks was joined by his son, John. Hendricks enjoyed the traveling that came with the military position.
Herbert Heuer – Onalaska National Guard. Served with the 389th Engineer Battalion.
Julian “Hutch” Hutchinson – Combat Engineer 1951-1953 He was stationed at Cogi Island, in Korea. He was part of a group that built a 100,000 man prisoner of war camp, and was responsible for maintaining it.
Robert Kreider – US Air Force 1959-1963 He was stationed in France, as a medic. Kreider was joined by his wife, Linda.
Barry Stumpf - US Army Reserve He served as a tank and heavy equipment mechanic.
Donald Vandervort – US Army He served with the 11th Field Hospital, during the Korean War and was stationed in Augsburg, Germany.
Terry Waterworth – US Navy 1978-1998 She served as a medical Corpsman.
Francis Wojtanowski – US Army 1946-1947 he served as an infantry man in Alaska. He remembers his duty as being very cold. He was joined by his daughters, Kathy and Colleen.
Roger Hallingstad – 1948 as National Guard 1951 as US Air Force. His fondest memory was climbing Mount Fuji, while being stationed in Japan.
Thomas Kuckes – US Army 1965-1967 He was stationed in Vietnam with the 714th Railroad Battalion. Having previous experience working for the Milwaukee Railroad helped Kuckes get rank fast, as he soon became the conductor. His fondest memories were the friends he made while he was in.
Kenneth Appleman – US Marine Corps Fought in the Korean War. He said that he did the job he was supposed to do, then went home.
Thomas Folger – US Army He joined in 1957 and put 30 years of service in. He was a combat engineer.
Each veteran in attendance received a quality hat, with the branch of service they had served in, set as the design. Some more mingling went on, before the veterans were taken back to their homes. The VFW does this every year for the veterans.
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