parkrapidsenterprise.com
park rapids enterprise | Saturday, November 11, 2023
| VETERAN’S DAY SALUTE | C1
Veterans Day Salute Helicopter pilot Ryan Vredenburg flew in missions around the world Lorie Skarpness Park Rapids Enterprise
Contributed / Ryan Vredenburg
Nevis graduate Ryan Vredenburg said joining the Army was the best decision of his life. His job as a helicopter pilot took him to many different countries. He is finishing his 20-year career with an assignment as a flight instructor.
Ryan Vredenburg, a 2003 graduate of Nevis High School, has traveled extensively in his career with the Army since enlisting in 2005. “I had family members in the military,” he said. “It seemed like a good fit. I was very fortunate that my uncle, Rodney Vredenburg, took me under his wing and gave me an honest walk through about what it would take. You’ve got to have that work ethic. The military can be a challenging life.” After completing basic training in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, Vredenburg worked as a helicopter mechanic for seven years before
deciding to become a helicopter pilot. He described flight school as “information by fire hose.” “You get blasted for a year and a half with academics and flying every day,” he said. “Then you come home and do two to three hours of homework to prepare for the next day.” His first four-year assignment as a pilot was with an air assault unit in Fort Riley, Kansas. “Moving personnel and equipment from one spot to an objective within five seconds to a specific coordinate, very detail-oriented,” he said. “It was challenging and fun.”
VREDENBURG: Page C2
Menahga grad embarks on missions through Army Reserves By Shannon Geisen Park Rapids Enterprise
No intention to enlist
She was on her second year of earning her Associates of Arts (AA) Major Julia Harrison Livingston, a degree at a Fergus Falls community 1992 Menahga High School graduate, college when she went to a recruiter’s has been serving in the U.S. Army office with a group of friends. Reserves for 30 years. Simply tagging along, “I had no She has both an engineering and interest whatsoever,” she recalled. paramedic background. No one in her immediate family had Her military career also took her served in the military. on humanitarian missions to Panama But the college tuition benefits and El Salvador. intrigued her. Livingston plans to retire at the end The reserve unit she could join was in nearby Fargo. of this year.
With her AA, she could skip being a private and go straight to PV2. In the Army Reserves, Livingston had more options to travel to other states. Exploring beyond the border of Minnesota appealed to her. So she signed up. Oct. 22 marks three decades since that day.
Paramedic training
At 19 years old, Livingston went to basic training on July 1, 1994 in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
She was part of an all-female unit called the Delta Dogs. It was the last one. Going forward, basic training became co-ed. The goal is to avoid the attention of drill sergeants, she said, “otherwise, you get ‘special’ duties.” Those eight weeks were followed by 12 weeks of special training to become an emergency medical technician. “Originally, I didn’t want to deal with blood. Ever. So now, like a regular
LIVINGSTON: Page C3
MEET OUR HEROES!
Our patient, Ring and his owner Tony Rouillard! Ring spent 3 deployments in Afghanistan as an explosive detection dog in the Military. After that Ring worked alongside his handler, Tony, while both in Washington for the Navy. In January 2019, Ring retired and was adopted by Tony. Thank you both, for your service and commitment to each other and our Country!
THE
“Skills That Heal and Hearts That Care!”
Dr Mia Long | Dr Vickie Wang
17261 State Hwy 34, Park Rapids • 218-732-3119 • arkanimalhospitalpr.com
C2 | VETERAN’S DAY SALUTE | Saturday, November 11, 2023 | park rapids enterprise
parkrapidsenterprise.com
VREDENBURG From Page C1
Iraq and Afghanistan
During his first deployment in Iraq, Vredenburg said he was “strictly maintenance.” “I never left the base during that deployment,” he said. “On my second deployment in Iraq, I was flying air movement requests for soldiers and state department personnel. My unit also did air assaults, moving infantry to find a target or capture their objective. Sometimes we were asked to pick up casualties on a Hero Mission. It was humbling to be part of that.” While in Afghanistan, Vredenburg was a crew chief in a medical evacuation (medevac) unit. “This was my first experience flying an air ambulance,” he said. “We were in a Black Hawk utility helicopter. It was all combat experience there. I maintained the aircraft and secured personnel and cargo and assisted the medic from patient pickup to patient transfer. When not in the medical capacity, I was the door gunner with my 240, a machine gun that hangs Contributed / Ryan Vredenburg out the window. In a potential enemy Medevac was on standby in Bardufoss, Norway in the Arctic Circle as part of large-scale NATO forces operations. area, we need that weapon system ready to protect the crew and the people on board. ” when Russia invaded Ukraine. “I had been on deployments to From South Korea to Germany Vredenburg and his wife, Kelly Iraq and Afghanistan, and this just Mostad, a graduate of Park Rapids had a different feel to it. A huge Area High School, were high school question mark. As a medical asset, sweethearts. “We dated for a few we were asked to overfly areas people years and got married in 2008,” he would consider as staging locations. We would receive a grid and analyze said. The couple has two children. Their areas we could land safely to pick son, Alaric, is 9 and daughter Vilah someone up. We repositioned medical is 4. His family came with him to his personnel and equipment. Before my two-year deployment to South Korea unit was pulled out of that theater, we responded to a handful of medical in 2018. “Five days after we got there, we evacs. “The U.S. military stance at that found out my wife was pregnant,” he said. “The Army was shutting down its time was we do not fly in Ukrainian medical facility there, so my daughter air space. We operated out of Poland was born in a Korean birthing center in a humanitarian capacity. If refugees and it was a very positive experience.” crossing the border into Poland needed Alaric was 4 when they moved air ambulance support, we helped.” He said this was his hardest to South Korea and attended an deployment because he had to be away international school in Seoul. After two years in South Korea, from his kids for over four months. “Adults can make it work and have a they went to Germany for three years, where Ryan was with the medevac air long-distance conversation when you can get through,” he said. “But kids ambulance. “There’s a large training facility don’t understand why you’re gone. there used by NATO members,” he When my son was little and I was gone for a nine-month deployment, I said. Vredenburg and his crew would take got a bunch of those four-inch G.I.Joe turns staying in a duty house for a action figures. Once a week, my wife week’s rotation. During that time, would put one in the mailbox and they were on call 24 hours and when later when she brought my son to a call came in, they would get whoever the mailbox he would find a ‘daddy present’ waiting. My wife also mailed needed help to the nearest hospital. me a pajama set for Christmas and we did a video call all wearing our The war in Ukraine “While I was in Germany is when Christmas PJs.” the war in Ukraine kicked off,” Vredenburg said. “We got very short Back in the U.S.A. Vredenburg is currently serving a notice that we would be relocating, and within a very short window, we two-year assignment at Fort Novosell, were gone. We had no idea how the Alabama, where he will teach students Contributed / Ryan Vredenburg world was going to respond to this. Vredenburg, at right, and a comrade received medevac patient transfer training We were living in tents in Poland
at Baumholder, Germany.
VREDENBURG: Page C3
Clifford “Kip” Lof Army SGT 1st Class
Charlie Hensel Marine Corp Lance Corporal
Curtis O. Gwynn Navy 3rd Class
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE
We remember and honor all of those who have served and sacrificed for all of us.
ADVENTURE STARTS HERE AND NOW! UTV RENTALS AVAILABLE
Curtis Hensel Marine Corp Corporal
Clifford Kimball Staff Sergeant Served 2 years WWII
Thank you for your service Veterans!
CUSTOM CABINETRY • CLOSETS COUNTERTOPS • HARDWARE • MILLWORK 218-573-3131 • Toll Free 1-800-573-0724 sales@swiinteriors.com
www.swiinteriors.com
THANK YOU
FOR YOUR DEDICATION, PATRIOTISM, SACRIFICE AND COURAGE OPEN 7 DAYS OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK A WEEK
Hwy. 34 East • Park Rapids Hwy,. 34 East
218-732-4513
Clyde R. Breitweser Army Private First Class
Park Rapids
732-4513
In honor of Donald F. DeLisi In memory of George M. Isaacson
Dedicated to serving our community, our members, and the Veterans who have proudly served our country
Otto Hendrickson Post 212
205 State 34, Nevis 218-652-4065
American Legion HWY. 34 E., PARK RAPIDS
Charitable Gambling #A00220-001
parkrapidsenterprise.com
park rapids enterprise | Saturday, November 11, 2023
| VETERAN’S DAY SALUTE | C3
LIVINGSTON
Turkmenistan asked her how he could get to the U.S. “I’ve always wanted to go back there, but in 2010 the Peace Corps no longer had volunteers there,” she said, because the country had a new dictator.
From Page C1
paramedic, you’re the first one on the scene when it’s a bloody mess!” Livingston said. She was keen to acquire practical skills that applied to civilian life. “Everybody should know first aid anyway.” She returned to Menahga and joined the first response team. As a reservist, she was committed to one weekend per month and two weeks per year. “We always ended up going to a hospital and working the ER, so we had a chance to see the medical field on that side,” she explained.
Spreading goodwill in Panama
She met her future husband, Brad Livingston, when the Bismarck and Fargo Army Reserves medical teams conducted joint training in 1998. They reconnected when she returned to the U.S. in 2001. “If 9/11 hadn’t happened, I might not have gotten married. I might not have had kids,” she said. Brad and Julia couldn’t serve together in the same medical unit, so she transferred to engineering. A Peace Corps stint is “When they did engineering projects, I was safety, in case anyone interrupted In 2000, Livingston went inactive. Contributed/Julia Harrison Livingston got injured doing their job. I’d be She had completed her six-year Livingston graduated from the U.S. Army’s engineering school in Fort Leonard the doctor of their whole crew,” she explained. contract with the Army Reserves, Wood in Missouri. Her daughter, Harmony, was born and was content to end her military in 2002. service. “Dysentery runs rampant over there. “That’s when I learned what As a medic, Julia participated in So she joined the Peace Corps. “Beyond the Horizon,” a humanitarian “I was over in Turkmenistan when It’s sad how few children survive,” propaganda looks like,” she recalled. Julia remembers watching the late- project in Panama around 2004-05. It 9/11 happened,” she said. “We got she said. She learned a few words in Russian, night TV news, in Russian, as events was a collaboration between the Army, evacuated.” She had been putting her medical but also worked at an English unfolded in New York City on Sept. 11. Air Force, Navy and Marines. The Julia wanted to serve her country operation aimed to spread goodwill experience to use in the former Russian immersion camp. At the time, Turkmenistan was ruled again. “So I went back in.” republic, working in a hospital, Just recently, her host brother in teaching women reproductive health. by a dictator, Saparmyrat Nyýazow. LIVINGSTON: Page C4
VREDENBURG From Page C2
Contributed / MEDEVAC
This photo was taken while Vredenburg was stationed in Poland at the start of the Ukraine conflict. how to fly Black Hawk helicopters. “Everything from flying traffic patterns, emergency response, simulating losing an engine and having to land it like an airplane,” he said. “From there we progress to night vision flights, and the final step is the tactical aspect.” Vredenburg said each session of flight school starts with discussing academics. “I’m looking at their understanding of how to use the information when they are flying,” he said. “My experience is going to help Contributed / Ryan Vredenburg Times when he was away from his children for long periods of time was the them connect those dots.” He explained that the Black Hawk hardest part of military deployment for Vredenburg. This photo was taken at the is a two-pilot aircraft, with two crew hangar in Grafenwohr, Germany. chiefs in the back as well.
David E. Zick Army Sergeant
David A. Anderson U.S. Navy E-9
Dave (Lefty) Anderson U.S. Navy Served 4 years Vietnam Era
Darius Simon U.S. Army E-5 Sgt
HARVALA Gary’s APPLIANCE Trailer sales
Honoring All Who Served
SALES, SERVICE & PARTS
Custom Trailers Built To Suit Your Needs
SALES & SERVICE (218)732-8414 PARTS (218)237-1376
• Heavy Duty and Super Duty • Car Haulers • Golf Carts • Utility • ATV • Garden Tractor • Motorcycles • Horsetrailers • Stock Trailers
“Home of the Mild & Wild Finlander”
Parts & Accessories • 218-732-3941 • 800-630-8638
Hwy. 34 East, Park Rapids
Many Thanks, Veterans! P.O. BOX 552, PARK RAPIDS, MN 56470 218-732-7252
He said coming back to the U.S. after being overseas so long was a culture shock. “Living in parts of the world where English isn’t the primary language, you get very comfortable tuning out people around you,” he said. “It had been two years since we had been Stateside. When we landed in Chicago, we noticed hearing all these sidebar conversations in English. My son said it was cool to understand everybody. It was hard for him to play with kids overseas sometimes because it was hard to communicate. “My kids gained from the opportunity to travel and see different cultures, being immersed in that, being forced to adapt. We decided to live on base here. We’re in a nice housing community four blocks from the school.” Vredenburg is planning to work as a pilot for a commercial airline based out of Minneapolis after he completes his 20 years of military service in July 2025. “My son will be 11 and my daughter will be 6 when I retire,” he said. “We want to be closer to family. My dad, Marv, lives in Nevis and my mom, Beatrice Taylor, lives in Detroit Lakes. My wife has family in Colorado and between Bemidji and Kelliher.” Looking back, Vredenburg said he is very happy with his decision to join the Army. “I think it was one of the best decisions of my life,” he said. Lorie Skarpness can be reached at lskarpness@parkrapidsenterprise.com
Danny Martin U.S. Marine Corps LCpl E-3
Daniel Alto U.S. Navy Hospital Corpman E5 Served 10 years
We thank all men and women in uniform past, present & future.
Fuller’s Gun & Pawn 223 Main Avenue South
218-732-4038
Park Rapids, MN 56470
12 mi. north on Hwy. 71 to Two Inlets Rd, then 7 mi. west
Thank you for your service! Home of Award-Winning Sausages Fresh Quality Meats - Custom Orders - Meat Bundles
416 MAIN AVE. S. • PARK RAPIDS, MN 218-732-1416 416 MAIN AVE. S. • PARK RAPIDS, MN 218-732-1416 MAINSTREETMEATS.NET • MON. - FRI. 8AM - 5:30PM MAINSTREETMEATS.NET • MON. - FRI. 8AM -5:30PM
100 Huntsinger Ave., Park Rapids • 732-3389 107 6th St., Walker • 547-3666
1-877-700-3389 • www.prweyeclinic.com
C4 | VETERAN’S DAY SALUTE | Saturday, November 11, 2023 | park rapids enterprise
parkrapidsenterprise.com
LIVINGSTON From Page C3
and build relationships with partner nations throughout Latin America. “We were building schools and community centers,” she said. She spent two weeks in Panama, assisting service people who became dehydrated or ill. “We were literally in a field with tents. We had chickens running through our tents, even though we had barbed-wire fence all around us,” Julia recalled. “I remember red dust everywhere. Whenever we went into Humvees, we had to cover our faces because that dust got into everything.”
Sole woman at Sapper school
In 2006, because she had a Bachelor of Science degree, Julia qualified for a direct commission as an officer. When her son, Riley, was about 14 months, she entered engineering school at Fort Leonard Wood. It was six months long. She was also one of the few women to be in the Sapper Leader Course, a demanding 28-day development course for combat engineers. According to the Army, “The course culminates in an intense field-training exercise that reinforces the use of the battle drills and specialized engineer techniques learned throughout the course.” If you fail any skill, you’re out of the program. Women were accepted to Sapper, beginning around 2004. In 2008, Julia was the sole female out of 70, whose average age was 23. She was 33 at the time. Exercise ranged from measuring bridges to tying knots. “You have to be physically fit,” she added. The training “makes your body hurt. . .They made us do a 12-mile march with a 40-pound rucksack. It had to be done within three hours.” Julia remembers popping blisters on her feet and gluing them up again. “I don’t think I had a sole to my foot.” Julia loves math, and she was intrigued by combat engineering. “You get to blow up things,” she said. “If you love fireworks, if you like Fourth of July, you’ll like dynamite. Engineering world is where it’s at.”
David Hilgendorf USN/USMC E-5 1st Force Recon
Contributed/Julia Harrison Livingston
Livingston is particularly proud of a peace-keeping mission in El Salvador.
Becoming a commander
Julia took command of the 461st Engineer Company, based in Fargo, in summer 2009. Her company was set to be shipped to Afghanistan in 2010. The family moved from Fargo to Menahga. “For whatever reason – I don’t know to this day – our unit ended up not going as a whole. They had taken 25% of my company and added them to another group in Iowa, so those guys went overseas,” she said. “We were fortunate that everyone came back,” although there were some injuries. Julia commanded over 100 people from 2009 to 2011. It was exhausting, she said, involving tons of logistics. All this, in addition to her civilian job, plus being a mother to two children under 5. “It wasn’t full-time pay. We gave a lot of volunteer time to God and government.” Around this time, Brad was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Brad served in the first Gulf War in 1990-91. His last tour was in Mosul, Iraq in 2005-06. He retired from the U.S. Army Reserves in 2009 after 23 years on and off active duty. The couple later divorced.
David E. Hernandez Naval Reserves LTJG
Dennis A. Strange Army SSGT E-6
Contributed/Julia Harrison Livingston
Livingston observes U.S. Army Reservists in her newest unit, 1-340th TSBN. She’s in charge of platoon, 11 men. Julia said her children aren’t interested in the military. “When you see the struggle of PTSD, do you want to have that possibility in your life? When you see the struggle your parents went through to deal
Debra Anderson-Gates Navy E-5
JOHN’S BODY SHOP
Peace-keeping in El Salvador From March through July 2015,
LIVINGSTON: Page C5
David Vocelka Navy E5
Thank You For Your Service!
Thank you for Serving
with how rough it is?”
Captain David Stowman US Marine Corps Vietnam Served 4 years
Thank you for your service!
Celebrating 42 Years of Quality Auto Body Work! Painting • Body Work Detailing • Headlight Aiming Hwy. 71 S. Park Rapids, 218-732-3273 Breakfast•Lunch•Dinner
AT THE JUNCTION OF 34&64 AKELEY, MN 218-652-2233
Make your dream plane a reality! www.parkrapidsaviation.com
P.O. Box 307, Hwy. 71 South • 218.237.8528 Thank you for serving our country and protecting our freedom.
Thank you to our veterans.
Open TO THE PUBLIC
NEW 5,000' OUTDOOR PATIO WITH OUTDOOR BAR
Honoring all who served.
Championship Golf Course • 18 Hole Par 72 Full Practice Facility • Driving Range Chipping Greens • Putting Greens • Bar & Grill
619 W. 6th Street, Park Rapids, MN 56470
218-732-3329
Headwaters Golf Club
2 miles North on Central Ave (County Road 1) Park Rapids, MN•732-4832 www.headwatersgolf.com
Kasey Krautkremer Air Force Senior Airman
Arthur Conaway Army
Sgt Larry Krautkremer 1971-1974 Vietnam Veteran 2 bronze stars of valor
Thank you, Veterans!
Owned by Local Firefighters!
1104 Park Ave. South • (218) 237-7378
park rapids enterprise | Saturday, November 11, 2023
parkrapidsenterprise.com
| VETERAN’S DAY SALUTE | C5
Kay Cain helped wounded Vietnam soldiers Lorie Skarpness Park Rapids Enterprise Kay Cain of Park Rapids served as a physical therapist with the Navy Hospital Corps in the 1960s, helping soldiers injured in the Vietnam War. Cain grew up on a farm near Osage, graduating from Park Rapids High School in 1964. A recruiter came down from Bemidji and she enlisted in the Navy in April 1965. “He said I was the first woman he ever recruited,” she said. “Women weren’t allowed in combat back then, but there were women nurses on hospital ships.” When Cain told her dad, Virgil Weeks, who had been in the Army during World War II, that she had enlisted in the Navy, he told her she
Her patients had recently shipped out of Vietnam after being injured. “We got guys three days out of Nam,” she said. “We had amputees, paraplegics, quadriplegics, most of them 18- or 19-year-old Marines that had been wounded over there, blown up.” She said in order to get the soldiers to do their therapy, she had to make them angry. “Otherwise, they would sit there and say they couldn’t do it,” she said. “Some people weren’t able to make Helping wounded vets it down to therapy, so we had to go After Cain completed her training, up to the ward to see them. One of Contributed/Kay Cain she was sent to Bethesda National the guys told me if I touched him he Kay Cain of Park Rapids served as Naval Hospital. would scream. I looked at him and a physical therapist with the Navy “The name has now been changed Hospital Corps in the 1960s, helping to the Walter Reed Hospital,” she said. should have gone in the Army if she was determined to enlist. “Really, he would have preferred I stay home,” she said. “When I filled out the papers, I put nursing as my fourth choice. Dentistry and photography were my top two choices. But when I got my orders after basic training, they said I was going to the Hospital Corps in Chicago. In physical therapy class, we had to know every bone, every muscle, where each nerve started and ended.”
CAIN: Page C6
soldiers injured in the Vietnam War.
LIVINGSTON
to another country,” Julia explained, like Afghanistan, Africa, Germany, From Page C4 Poland, etc. In 2020, the 1-340th TSBN was Julia was lead project manager for a activated to go to Fort Hood, Texas, humanitarian project in El Salvador. recently renamed Fort Cavazos. “We basically built, from the ground Then COVID hit. up, five schools and one clinic,” she In order to send a group of soldiers, said. “This was my pride and joy.” more than 90% had to test negative They worked alongside El Salvadoran for COVID 72 prior to their trip. engineers and RED HORSE, the Air Julia called it “a logistical Force’s civil engineer response force. nightmare.” At one point, a 1,000-year-old plate She and her kids returned to was discovered during a dig. This Minnesota in June 2021. halted construction. Meanwhile, she earned a master’s It was challenging – the Zika virus and dangerous local gangs posed risks. degree in acupuncture and launched Only the Salvadoran Army carried her own business, called Active weapons, Julia said, since it was a Acupuncture, to help people with anxiety, pain and more. peace-keeping mission. Julia plans to retire from the reserves “Literally, two weeks after we left, our hotel that we stayed at got in December. She said she’s worked with a lot of bombed.” Julia said she can understand why kind, respectful people over 30 years. She wishes she had seen combat, people are fleeing to the U.S. border. but she’s yet to meet anyone who ‘God had another plan’ has experienced as many overseas She’s currently with the 1-340th missions as she has done. TSBN. “Obviously, God had another plan Contributed/Julia Harrison Livingston “Part of our mission is to be for me.” Julia Harrison Livingston poses with her two children on the day she got training soldiers to make sure their Shannon Geisen can be reached at sgeisen@ validation is ready to go out the door parkrapidsenterprise.com. commissioned. Harmony was born in 2002 and Riley in 2006.
Rod Vredenburg US Army Nat. Guard Comand Sgt. Major
Tim Ranisate US Army Reserves Sgt Served 14 years Iraqi Freedom
Timothy R. Soukup USMC SSgt
Jeremiah C. Johnson Army Ranger Spec 4. Served 5 years Iraq, Afghanistan
Zachary O’Hern Air Force Senior Airman
William E. Skelton U.S. Army Corporal Served 1946-1948 Korea
Eddie R. Jokela U.S. Army 1st Sergeant
Donald W. Wiese U.S. Army Corporal Korean War Served 4 years
Donald Haagenson U.S. Marine Corps Corporal Served 2 years
Donald F. DeLisi U.S. Army Corporal
Don Nilson Army Sergeant E-5
Diane Cole Air Force Sergeant
Thank you Veterans!
Park Rapids
Racer Construction, Inc. Jody Yliniemi- owner • Building Sites • Basements • Roads • Dozer Work • Septic Systems • City Water & Sewer Office: 218-573-3452 Jody’s Cell: 218-252-2120 Josh’s Cell: 218-252-2003
26299 Eagle Bay Ave., Osage, MN 56570
Licensed, Bonded & Insured
VETERANS
10% OFF
all Brake Repair in the month of November
(218) 732-4274
807 1st St E, Park Rapids, MN 56470
www.motorworksauto.com
Thank you for your service. Monday - Friday 10am - 5pm Saturday 10am - 4pm • Sunday Closed 207 Main Ave. S., Park Rapids 218-237-7777
Thank you for your service! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE VETERANS! ITASCA REGION INSURANCE AGENCY, INC. We are an Independent Insurance Agency
“PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AT A FAIR PRICE” 434 Main St SW, Menahga, MN // 1-218-640-5403 // jerrytorma@gmail.com
Call Us Today! (218)732-9785
1012 First St., (Hwy 34 E), Park Rapids, MN 56470
C6 | VETERAN’S DAY SALUTE | Saturday, November 11, 2023 | park rapids enterprise
CAIN
of big protests going on against the Vietnam War. There were riots and it From Page C5 was a scary time. That’s why for many many years you did not know who had told him I wasn’t going to touch him been in Vietnam. They would not talk because he was going to do the work. to people about it.” And after a couple of times, he started One special experience she likes to exercising.” recall about her time at Bethesda was Cain said that one man came into when President Lyndon B. Johnson the hospital in a full body cast from was a patient. his chest down almost to his knees. “To get to the special elevator to go “He had been hurt pretty bad,” she up to the presidential floor, you had said. “When he got to the point where to walk down to the basement and he could stand up, when he was able to right through the middle of physical walk, he came down to tell us goodbye therapy,” she said. “There were before he was transferred out.” Marines every few feet. Lady Bird She said the hardest part of working and the girls were fantastic. Perfect with the veterans returning from southern ladies. Every time they went Vietnam was seeing their sadness and up to see Lyndon, they had to come by depression. us. All three of them would stop and “I went to a couple of wards just to talk and ask how things were going visit with guys I had met on the plane, and what all we did. They were so taking them to the emergency room to friendly.” be admitted,” she said. She said soldiers returning from Coming back home Vietnam were not honored or When she got out of the Navy, Cain recognized for their service. got a job at Fairfax General, a big “Returning from Nam, some still hospital in Arlington, Virginia. had their uniforms on,” she said. “I was hired for the labor and “Some were spit on, yelled at and had delivery floor because I knew sterile stuff thrown at them. There were a lot techniques,” she said. “All of the
Edward Guy Smith Navy E5
Edward Anton Jonas Navy Petty Officer 3rd Clas Served 4 years USS Stallion
MARCHELL ELECTRIC
12500 County 106, Park Rapids, MN 56470
Residential - Farm - Commercial A Steffes ETS Heat Dealer
VETERAN OWNED BUSINESS Contact Mike at (218)732-8862 or marchellelectric@gmail.com
equipment they used, I sterilized it right there. I knew how to pack and do it. I was the only aide on that whole floor. The rest were RNs.” She met her husband, John, when he was dating one of her roommates. “When he met me, he told one of his friends that he was going to marry me,” she said. “He was a communications tech in the Navy and repaired all of the big top secret coded machines.” She came back to Osage in 1968 to stay with her parents when John was sent to Guantanamo Bay for a year. “That’s back when it was a Navy base and not a prison,” she said. “When John got out of the Navy, he came here and was just going to stay for a while until he decided what he wanted to do. He got a job with Bell Telephone, so he stayed in the area. Later, he went to school to be a surveyor and worked for MnDOT in Detroit Lakes on computers until he retired.” The couple had two children. Their son, John, lives in Hackensack and their daughter, Mickey, lives in North Dakota. Cain worked as a physical therapy
Elmer Koskela U.S. Navy E-4 Fireman
in Experts
rior Extem o H eg lin
Remode
Elaine McGaughey Nelson U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sergeant
Retail – Wholesale Bait, Tackle & Guns
Owners Jeremy & Courtney Weber
218-751-3586
50209 US 71, Bemidji, MN webless2020@gmail.com l www.abcseamless.com
Gas Restaurant Full Bar Broasted Chicken Burgers & More! On/Off Sale Liquor Ice Meat Raffle Sat. Night @ 7:00PM
218-732-5113
614 S. Main, Park Rapids Corner of 7th St. & Main Ave. S.
tech at the nursing home in Park Rapids. “It is Heritage now, but it was Sunset when I started,” she said. She also worked at nursing homes in Crosby-Ironton and Fargo. When she was in her 40s, Cain went back to school in Detroit Lakes and earned her LPN. She also took classes in electronics in Wadena. “Then I went back to Detroit Lakes in bio-med to learn how to repair all the equipment in the hospital,” she said. She retired from nursing in 2008. Cain is a member of the American Legion in Park Rapids. “I think it is fantastic to have the veterans benefits,” she said. “I couldn’t get it when I was working because we had our own insurance. But once I retired I was eligible. All of my major medical is over there in Fargo. Veterans earned these benefits. And they have a veterans van that will drive you over there.” Lorie Skarpness can be reached at lskarpness@ parkrapidsenterprise.com
Erland Alto U.S. Navy MMCM E9 Severed 20 years 1953-1973
Elmer (Jake) Yliniemi Army Cpl Served 2 years Korean War
Seamless Steel Siding Seamless Steel Gutters Soffit & Fascia • Roofing Gutter Covers (Multiple Options)
Thank you for serving
NORTHERN BAIT INC.
parkrapidsenterprise.com
Hunting Licenses - Hides for Habitat Drop-Off - Box On-Site Open 7 Days A Week!
218-573-3990
54507 Hwy. 34,
Osage, MN
P: 218-732-5226 | F:218-237-5080 4 mi. W. on Hwy. 34 & 1/2 mi. S. on 109th Ave., Park Rapids, MN
autocraftpr.com • autocraftpr@hotmail.com
Like us on
Thank you for your service!
FULL COLLISION REPAIR SHOP • Full Glass Replacement • Insurance Work • Color Matching • Frame Work • Full Down Draft Bake Booth
CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED
1 MILE W. ON HWY. 34, PARK RAPIDS | 218-237-5660 joshscollision.net • Shop Manager/Owner Josh
parkrapidsenterprise.com
park rapids enterprise | Saturday, November 11, 2023
| VETERAN’S DAY SALUTE | C7
Menahga graduate joins Marines and Green Berets By Shannon Geisen Park Rapids Enterprise Levi Tormanen graduated from Menahga High School in 2007. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2017, excelling in special operations reconnaissance, amphibious and parachutist training and advanced sniper training. In 2021, he transferred to the Army’s Green Beret program. “I’d always been interested in the military from a pretty young age,” he said. Tormanen wanted to be a pilot, but poor eyesight curtailed that route. He considered the Navy Seals, but a mild color deficiency prohibited that, too. So he turned to the Marine Corps. As he approached 28 years old, Tormanen realized that he needed to enlist before the age limit passed for the infantry jobs that interested him. “I joined really late compared to most people. It was just one of those things where the door is closing if I want to do it and I want to see what it’s all about, it’s now or never.” Prior to joining the military, Tormanen spent summers in Alaska as a charter fishing guide and winters in Wyoming as a snowmobile guide. “I had a couple seasonal jobs that I really enjoyed and had a lot of fun doing,” he said. Tormanen was often the oldest guy during military training, and it was physically demanding, but he had stayed active with rock climbing, mountain biking and other outdoor recreation. He was stationed at Camp Pendleton, near San Diego. While growing up in northern Minnesota may have helped him during “cold and miserable” Marine training, Tormanen thinks “mental toughness” is key. “Surveillance and reconnaissance was a lot of sneaking around the
mountains and the bushes, watching things. You may be used to go deep behind enemy lines and you’re the eyes and the ears for the commanders and the guys behind you. You’re letting them know exactly what’s going, who is where and what abilities they have,” Tormanen explained. Tormanen says he got lucky and ended up on a “freefall” team. “I was jumping out of planes a lot. That was pretty enjoyable.” After four years in the Marine Corps, he transferred to the Army. The Green Berets are a more established community, he said, along with more opportunities. He went to Fort Liberty in North Carolina, graduating as a Green Beret about a year-and-a-half later. A few months ago, Tormanen attended combat dive school in Key West, Florida. “It’s not an easy school. It’s not a fun school,” he said. Tormanen was assigned to a station in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He, his wife and three children will be moving there in a few months. They’re all in Minnesota in the meantime. Being away from his family has been a difficult aspect of military life. “Between training and deployments, it’s not uncommon to spend three, four, five, six months away from your wife and kids at a time,” he said. With his job, Tormanen might be in the same state or city, but training in a remote location and out of contact with family. He advises anyone interested in joining the military to do their research before choosing a military branch. He suggests talking to service members in the fields that interest you. “Go in with a plan. Have an idea what you want,” Tormanen said. “Have expectation management.” Shannon Geisen can be reached at sgeisen@ parkrapidsenterprise.com.
Contributed/Rebecca Tormanen
Levi Tormanen transferred from the Marine Corps to the Army in 2021.
Frank E. Soukup Jr. USMC LCPL
Eugene M. Henderson Air Force Master Sergeant
Thank you Veterans! PREMIER LUBE & REPAIR Auto & Truck Repair AstroStart Remote Car Starter Certified Intoxalock Installer Les (Whitey) Hansen, Owner les21772@yahoo.com 220 Crocus Hill St, Park Rapids, MN 56470
218-237-5823
Frank Joseph Soukup Army Corporal
Frank Edward Soukup Sr. Army Airborne Staff Sargeant
Shell Sport & Bait Headquarters for all your Hunting Needs! • Hunting Supplies & Licenses • Propane • Ammo • Gas Station Convenience Store Hours: 5am-9pm Daily
For All Your Pest Control Needs!
Specializing in Ants • Flies • Asian Beetles Bed Bugs • Spiders & other creepy things! Prompt & Friendly Service - Free Estimates
1-877-685-9370 www.northstarpestcontrol.com
Locally Owned By Corey & Sue Westrum
F ELL OW VE T ER A NS
AND ALL MILITARY PERSONNEL FOR YOUR SERVICE AND SACRIFICE
218-564-5203 • 17 Aspen Ave. NW • Menahga
Park Rapids Deputy Registrar #68, Inc.
Locally owned & family operated since 1983!
NORTH STAR PEST CONTROL Thank you for your Service
THANK YOU
Auto Life Business Health
Farm Crop Home
(218) 564-5300 kristine@fuainsurance.com 11 Aspen Ave NW Menahga, MN 56464
A Salute to Our Military
Motor Vehicle/License Center
Phone: (218) 732-4363
322 Main Ave. S., Suite #1 Park Rapids, MN 56470 Fax: (218) 732-1460 Email: prdeputy@gmail.com Mon - Fri: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm ✯ Veteran Owned & Operated ✯
Whistle Stop Parcel Center
UPS
UPS Authorized Shipping Outlet Supplying Quality Landscape and Masonry Products Since 1909 702 Industrial Park Rd, Brainerd
218-829-9674 • wwthompson.com
prdeputy68@gmail.com
C8 | VETERAN’S DAY SALUTE | Saturday, November 11, 2023 | park rapids enterprise
parkrapidsenterprise.com
Deschane serves as mechanic at USAREUR By Shannon Geisen Park Rapids Enterprise
Mark DeSchane enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1969 on a delayed entry program. “It was a three-month delay. I’m not sure why they were allowing that, but it gave you time to get everything situated,” he recalled. Born and raised in Bloomington, he graduated from high school in 1968. “The draft was going on and I knew it was just a matter of time before they called me up, and they did,” he recalled. He considered being a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War. “Once I got in, there was a guy that did that and I saw how they rode him so hard. I just decided to stick with it,” he said. DeSchane talked to a Navy recruiter, stating that he didn’t want to kill anybody. “They said, ‘Oh, we can’t use you.” He went to basic training in Fort Bragg, now known as Fort Liberty, in North Carolina. Then DeSchane learned how to be a truck mechanic at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland. “After that, they sent me to Fort Sill, Oklahoma to become a track mechanic – tanks and stuff like that,” he said. The 16 weeks of training dissuaded him from becoming an auto mechanic in civilian life. “You have grease on your hands all the time,” he said. “But it was good training. It was more in depth than a truck mechanic.” DeSchane was shipped to Stuttgart, Germany, where he maintained 40 to 50 trucks for the Headwaters Company of the VII Corps. “You’d change oil or something would be wrong with it,” he said of
post – a three-star and two twostar generals. They would run “war games” in the command center, plotting moves for the Vietnam War. “Because we had to go in there and wire up, I needed a secret clearance. I’d tell you about it, but I’d have to kill you,” he added, chuckling. On weekends off, DeSchane went skiing. “I was a skier at Val Chatel,” he noted. He also traveled to Salzburg, Austria and Kehlsteinhaus, which was a gift to Adolf Hitler and known as “Eagle’s Nest.” DeSchane spent two years in Germany, arriving in August 1970. He was honorably discharged in July 1972. DeSchane recalled being spit on by a woman as he walked through an airport in his uniform, accusing him of being a “baby killer.” “I felt the same way about the war,” he said. “I’m absolutely thankful they didn’t send me there.” Deescalation began about that same time DeSchane joined the military, so that might have made a difference, he speculates. “Now, it’s so much different,” and the public appreciates military service, he said. His parents built a cabin on Spider Contributed/Mark DeSchane Lake in 1955, so DeSchane was familiar Mark DeSchane enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1969 on a delayed entry program. with the Heartland Lakes area. In 1978, he and his brother moved their DMS Corporation, a diamond the 3/4-ton, 1.25- and 2.5-ton Jeeps. worked,” he said. stamp company, to Park Rapids. They He received additional training in “I was in the top company of the VII left the business in 1996. Corps,” he explained. Two corps – V Murnau, Germany. Mark and wife Vickie split time “When we went out in the field living in Park Rapids and Walker. and VII – comprised the U.S. Army every six months or so, we’d set up He is a member of the Park Rapids Europe and Africa (USAREUR). “The post I was on was a real small, generators to power the command American Legion. nice post. In the center, they had tactical center.” Shannon Geisen can be reached at sgeisen@ There were three generals on the the motor pools and that’s where I parkrapidsenterprise.com.
Melvin Hochstatter Army PFC Served 2 years Korean War
Melvin F. Larson Army Sergeant
Michael Henry Hafner Jr U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class
Michael John Hafner U.S. Army Sergeant First Class
Ethan H. Hensel Marine Corps Sergeant
Ernie D. Hernandez Navy LCDR
George Wroblewski Air Force Served 4 years WWII
George Roger Clark Navy EN2
George M. Isaacson Air Force Sergeant
Gary Harshe Marines P-1
Fred Wallman III Army CW3
Fred W. Hensel Navy Petty Officer Second Class
Willy Jensen Trucking Thank you for your service! & Repair, Inc. Full Tires Service. Commercial, Ag, Passenger
27522 Co. Hwy. 48 Osage, MN
DOT Inspections
218-573-3549
For all who serve, and have served. Thank you.
218-888-6181
www.kingoftheroadtrailer.com 325 Oak Hills Rd SE, Bemidji, MN (South of Cenex South Store)
We LOVE
our Veterans!
Thank you for your Service
RON WEISS
LOGGING 218-732-5007 Ron Weiss, Owner Park Rapids
PLLC
Expert Legal Services | Local Knowledge
Thank you for your service!
Thank you Veterans Sara Swanson, Roger Zahn, Trent Wilcox, Matt Enger, Zachary Johnson
Main Street, Nevis • (218)652-9910 Open 7 Days a Week Military Save 10% Every Monday!
Personal Care Assistance Bonded & Insured Affordable Rates
Our Mission is to Protect Your Independence
120 N. Main Ave., P.O. Box 87, Park Rapids, MN 56470 Telephone: (218) 732-7236 www.tszlaw.com
park rapids enterprise | Saturday, November 11, 2023
parkrapidsenterprise.com
| VETERAN’S DAY SALUTE | C9
Contributed/Jerry Mevissen
Glenn Pederson’s extended family participated in the monument installation – brothers, son, daughter, brother-in-law, son-in-law, grandkids and great-grandkids.
Nimrod monument honors all veterans to all veterans, but especially to his fellow Vietnam vets. Glenn was drafted in the U.S. Army On a stretch of farmland, about a in June 1968 at the age of 19. mile north of Nimrod on County 14, He took infantry basic at Fort a new monument stands. You can’t Campbell, Kentucky, and shipped to miss it. It’s about 12 feet tall and 28 Vietnam in November of that year. feet wide in brilliant red, white, and After 14 months of service there, he blue. returned to the States in January 1970 It’s Glenn Pederson’s monument and was discharged in Washington
state on April 14, 1970, a date no veteran will ever forget.
Matthew Ziegler Army National Guard Private
Matt Knott Army Infantry
William Knapp U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant
Valerie Yates U.S. Army Reserves Captain Served 9 years
Tony Yerkes USNR LT Served 6 years Vietnam
Tony Hoeke U.S. Army E-4 Served 4 years
Lloyd Lundstrom Navy Seaman 1st Class
Lloyd Allen Hensel Army Pfc Served 4 years
Leslie (Whitey) Hansen Navy AW-E4
Leslie Anderson Army Spec 5
Leo Wallnofer U.S. Army Private
Leo Hensel Army Sergeant
By Jerry Mevissen Nimrod, Minn.
A perfect spot
“All my life, after serving in the Army, I wanted to build this monument,” Pederson said. “Finally in 2015, I built the first one at the home place in Oylen. When we sold that farm and moved to Menahga, we
dismantled the monument. I searched for a spot around town to rebuild it. We couldn’t find the right place.” When his wife, Brenda, died in 2021, he bought land north of Nimrod, built a house and pole barn, and returned to his old stomping grounds.
PEDERSON: Page C10
“Small enough to know you, Large enough to SERVE you!”
PROUDLY SALUTING OUR VETERANS We look forward to helping you with all your real estate needs! www.WolffSimonRealEstate.com 218-237-7770
THANK YOU
Polyurethane SPray InSulatIon
for your ServIceS
for vaulted ceilings, walls and rim joist of new homes. Also pole barns, metal buildings & shops.
Park Rapids (218) 732-7036 (800) 642-4101
MID-STATE INSULATION, INC
RAY NAGLE
(218) 237-DANS (3267) 2012 PARK AVE. S. (HWY. 71 S.)
IN BUSINESS SINCE 1976
• New Homes • Remodeling • Pole Buildings
HIGH DENSITY BLOWN IN FIBERGLASS
insulation for attics
midstateinsulation.com Email: midstateinsulation@unitelc.com
MENAHGA, MN
218-564-4940
www.spiritlakelumber.com
C10 | VETERAN’S DAY SALUTE | Saturday, November 11, 2023 | park rapids enterprise
parkrapidsenterprise.com
PEDERSON
down, back up, and drive in for a better view or a photograph. Two cars From Page C9 drove to the house asking about the monument. “Really awesome” was “It was the perfect spot for a monument,” Glenn continued. “Wide their comment. “It’s a monument for all veterans,” open view, great highway visibility, Glenn said. “They should all be beautiful background.” known and respected. But especially, I wanted to honor my outfit in Vietnam: A family endeavor In the fall of 2022, he committed Echo Company of the Fourth Infantry the design to paper with help from Division. Benny. Michael. Lenny. son Ryan. Kenny. Good friend Ken St. Clair.” They selected and measured utility poles he bought with the property, Not all made it home and he bought flags. In May 2023, Glenn views the monument every grandson Dustin delivered sheet steel day. for the 4-foot-by-8-foot metal flag “I think of all my buddies,” he and USA letters. said. “Almost talk to them. Many Glenn and crew drilled mounting were exposed to Agent Orange. Some holes, and Anderson Customs painted returned only to die of cancer. All the flag, cut and painted letters, and those I mentioned were dead by the formed “God Bless America” that tops age of 30.” the monument. Glenn reflected on his end-ofRyan and daughter Shannon painted service experience. and printed the smaller signs. “When we returned to Washington, Ryan and brother-in-law Chip installed the utility poles and concrete we didn’t know what to expect. Other returning vets were greeted with blocks. Brothers Ray and Jeff Pederson rocks. We were given a choice to wear installed the cross pole. our uniforms or change into civvies. Rustic Log and Furniture of Park We flew a chartered aircraft to the Rapids chainsawed the wooden eagles, Twin Cities, so we could fly alone. which flank the monument. Heroes deserve a welcome home. We On July 8 and 14, Pederson family didn’t get one.” members gathered to install the “Only lately do you see veterans monument. proudly wearing baseball caps Jeff had moved boulders in to frame showing their Vietnam experience,” it. The flag and letters were lifted by Glenn added. “Or buying license plates Bobcat and suspended by chains. Ryan, Shannon, son-in-law Dave, with “Vietnam veteran” inscribed. It Jeff, grandsons and granddaughters, wasn’t always that way.” The monument is intended to rectify great-grandsons and great-daughters, that indifference. all were on hand to participate in Ryan has been a driving force in the the final assembly. The event was a monument in itself, a monument to project, Glenn’s right-hand man. It family respect and devotion. was an effort that was its own reward. “Seeing the tears in Dad’s eyes Public invited to take photos when we installed the monument was The Nimrod monument is bigger a moment I’ll never forget,” Ryan than the Oylen monument. It’s made said. of steel instead of plywood and And what was behind the tears? intended to last forever. It’s also a “He made the monument for his work in progress, with plans to install a sidewalk, seating benches, and friends. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when he stepped off the Bobcat lighting. “I hope people stop to view it, to and turned to talk to us. ‘I want you photograph it, and to enjoy it,” Glenn to know how much I love all of you,’ he said. “And how much he loves the said. People drive by and they do slow land of the free because of the brave.”
Contributed/Glenn Pederson
Tech 4 Glenn Pederson on site in Vietnam on Hill LZ Mile High. He’s firing a No. 4 Deuc Mortar. Empty ammo boxes in the background provide cover and protection.
Contributed/Jerry Mevissen
Vietnam vet Glenn Pederson’s monument to all veterans stands on his farm, north of Nimrod.
Loren Bruce Jr. U.S. Navy Machinist Mate E5
Logan Carmichael U.S. Army SGT
Margaret Hensel Air Force Fly Nurse
Maggi Yerkes USN CDR Served 23 years Vietnam
Marvin Brown Marines CPL Served 4 years Vietnam War
Mark O. Hensel Army Private 1st Class
Larry Carroll Navy HM2-E5
Lance Hansen Navy E-3
Leah Bliss U.S. Navy Specialist Served 4 years
Lawrence Hensel Army Staff Sergeant
Laura Winterberger U.S. Army E-4
Sgt Larry Krautkremer Served 3 years Vietnam
Honoring all who have selflessly served our country. THANK YOU VETERANS!
HONORING ALL WHO SERVED
Akeley Muni
The
Where Paul Wets His Whistle!
ON SALE - OFF SALE
Happy Hour Monday-Friday: 11am to Noon & 5pm-7pm FOOD - POOL - DARTS - PULL TABS, E-TABS, FUN! ON SALE/BAR Hours: Mon.-Sat.: 10am-1am; Sunday: 11am-Close OFF SALE Hours: Mon.-Sat.: 10am-10pm; Sunday: 11am-6pm
trustarfcu.com Federally Insured By NCUA
Bob Meier
218-237-7600 We Service ALL Makes and Models
218-652-4084
DOWNTOWN AKELEY •
Quality Service You Can Trust Computer Diagnostics, Engine Repairs, Shocks/Struts, Electrical Systems, Brakes, Hoses, Transmissions, Belts, Tune Ups, A/C, Heating, Diesel Repair and More! WE SELL TIRES!
The Most Complete Oil Change In The Area!
Located on Hwy 34 West Park Rapids, MN 56470
THANK
YOU
for your service to our country!