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Honoring Our Nation’s Heroes A Supplement of Sauk Valley Media Friday, July 3, 2015

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Sauk Valley Media • C1

family

Former Byron couple wants to give veterans a place to retreat from their post-war battles

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witness

When Hell was unleashed on Earth, Sterling’s Ron Johnson saw it happen.

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memories

For a Sterling veteran, war is hard to forget – but it’s even harder to remember

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duty

For Sterling veteran, duty is all about having the right stuff

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lessons

When re-enactors bring history to life, they can also help veterans open up

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duty calls

honor

Helping take veterans to our nation’s capital is an honor and a privilege

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Sauk Valley veteran had dreams of playing for the big league, but ended up playing for Uncle Sam instead

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C2 • Sauk Valley Media

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Friday, July 3, 2015

HONORING OUR NATION’S HEROES | FAMILY

Mission not accomplished – yet A former Byron couple wants to honor their fallen son by giving servicemembers a place where they can retreat from their post-war battles and find a little peace of mind. Though the couple’s effort is off to a slow start, this Darkhorse has every intention of winning its race

BY KATHLEEN A. SCHULTZ kschultz@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5535 @KathleenSchul10

PARIS, Tenn. – Marine Lance Cpl. Alec Catherwood died a hero, killed in action in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, nearly 5 years ago, on Oct. 14, 2010.

That certainly is legacy enough, a proud legacy for a 19-year-old. No one would disagree that his parents, Kirk and Gretchen Catherwood, have sacrificed enough.

That makes their ongoing mission all the more noble, their vision of hope all that more inspiring.

The Catherwoods, who moved from Byron to Paris, Tennessee, after the death of their only son, are building a retreat for combat veterans. It will be a place for servicemen and women to come together, at no cost to them, to share their pain with one another around a campfire, to walk in the woods, heal their minds and restore their souls, maybe fish a little. To find some peace after war.

Darkhorse Lodge is named after the Darkhorse 3/5 Marine unit, which lost 25 members, including Alec, in a 6-month period while in Afghanistan.

Plans call for five handicapped-accessible cabins – each with five rooms.

Each of the 25 rooms will be named for one of the 25 fallen.

A sixth cabin will house the staff, including fishing guides, who also will be combat vets, and have a shower house.

The chow hall will be named for Dixon-based Army National Guard Spc. Tim Noble Bowman of Forreston, who was 23 when he committed suicide on Thanksgiving Day 2005

Submitted photos

ABOVE: Kirk and Gretchen Catherwood lost their son, Alec (left), in battle. Now, they want to give returning soldiers a place where they can go to find some peace of mind.

Board members of the nonprofit Darkhorse Lodge are: Mike Bowman of Forreston, father of the late Army National Guard Spc. Tim Bowman; Jerry Oleson, a Byron police officer and a former Marine; Mark Titre of South Elgin, founder of God Bless the Troops and Honor America’s Valor (www.godblessthetroops.com, www.honoafter returning home from Iraq (www.iraqwarheroes.org/bowman.htm).

The Catherwoods, who fell in love with the serenity they found when they moved to Paris, planned to build the lodge on their property. They created a nonprofit agency called Darkhorse Lodge for their fundraising efforts.

But a new housing development is springing up next door.

More Info

ramericasvalor.org); and Gretchen and Kirk Catherwood, and their daughter, Alec’s sister, Mikaela Montgomery of Huntsville, Alabama.

For more information on the project, to donate, or to sponsor fundraisers, go to: darkhorselodge.org, find the lodge on Facebook, email the Catherwoods at mail@

Because they want their vets to have the privacy they need, and the freedom to do what they want at any hour of the day or night, they are looking for a new site, one still close to tranquil Kentucky Lake.

They need $1.5 million to break ground for, build and operate Darkhorse.

So far, they’ve raised $150,000 – no small feat – but are struggling to find the rest of the

darkhorselodge.com, or call 731-3633616.

Online Darkhorse fundraisers are posted on: Go Fund Me and Crowdrise, and through Amazon Smile.

Tax-deductible donations also can be sent to: Darkhorse Lodge, 105 W. Wood St., P.O. Box 1143, Paris, TN 38242.

money. Gretchen has been seeking grants, donations, and sponsors, writing to TV talk show hosts, looking for goods, money, publicity – whatever it takes. She has organized all kinds of fundraisers, live and online.

Lately, though, it’s been to little or no avail.

“But I get up the next day, and I do it again,” she said. “I won’t ever quit.”

Gretchen is the very definition of gung ho, Marine tenacity at its finest.

All she needs, she said, is for the idea to catch fire, and she firmly believes it will. It could start with one person sharing her vision. When that happens, she said, “I believe it’s going to snowball.”

The money will come, Gretchen said. Darkhorse will come to fruition, “or I will die trying.”

Friday, July 3, 2015

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Sauk Valley Media • C3

HONORING OUR NATION’S HEROES | WITNESS

Eyewitness to history They say war is hell, something Ron Johnson knows all too well.

The Sterling man and his fellow GI’s were off the coast of Japan when war’s first atomic bomb laid waste to Hiroshima

‘‘

The cruelest thing God ever put on Earth was man.

Ron Johnson (left), witness to Hiroshima bombing

BY CHRISTI WARREN cwarren@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5521 @SeaWarren

STERLING – On Aug. 6, 1945, Ron Johnson was floating about half a mile off the coast of Japan.

He and his crew were anticipating an invasion, and from their duck boat they watched as planes bombarded the island – a standard practice before a land invasion.

All of a sudden, there was an explosion bigger than the rest.

Though they didn’t know it at the time, an American B-29 bomber had dropped the first atomic bomb to be used in warfare over Hiroshima. The explosion was unbelievable.

Johnson and his men had never seen anything like it. They assumed that a regular bomb must have hit an ammunition factory or something. And the blast – they could feel the wind blow back toward them.

That bomb ended up leveling 90 percent of the city; the blast alone killed 80,000 people. Thousands more would later die from radiation exposure.

Ron and his men didn’t end up invading that day, and they would not find out for quite some time

Photos by Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com

Ronald Johnson still has one of the shells from a 40 mm gun that was used on the ship he served on during World War II. just how devastating that bomb – dubbed “Little Boy” – was, or what exactly happened.

Three days later, on Aug. 9, another atomic bomb – “Fat Boy” – was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. Forty thousand people died in that blast, and its explosion is what led to the end of the Japanese war effort.

The peace treaty was signed,

and on Aug. 15, Japan’s Emperor Hirohito publicly announced his country’s unconditional surrender.

In his address, he cited the Americans’ “new and most cruel bomb.”

“You see the most horrific things,” said Ron, now 91 and living in Sterling.

Ron was just a kid when he

’’

signed up. He was born in 1923, a farm boy.

Ron was out for a drive with his father on Dec. 7, 1941, when they drove in to a gas station. That’s where they first heard the news about the day that would live in infamy: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

He didn’t have to enlist; farm workers were granted exemptions from the draft, but he wanted to serve his country.

“I didn’t think it was right to stay at home,” he said.

He rose to the rank of quarter master second class and spent his days on landing ship tanks, or duck boats, the kinds with flat bottoms that appear in famous images of WWII invasions, like the ones used in the invasion of Normandy.

That’s how he happened to be half a mile off the coast of Japan when Hiroshima was bombed.

When American troops were allowed to go ashore after the explosions, Ron’s boat was one of the first to go.

In Hiroshima and in Nagasaki, men dug trenches along the sides of the roads, and bulldozers plowed the streets, pushing the dead into them.

“The cruelest thing God ever put on Earth was man,” Ron said.

LEFT: Ronald Johnson was out for a drive with his father when he heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor. The next day he enlisted in the Navy. RIGHT: Ron Johnson couldn’t say enough good things about the people and soldiers of Australia, with whom he served during World War II. Johnson befriended a soldier “who didn’t make it,” and that soldier’s fellow comrades gave Ron his medal as a memento.

C4 • Sauk Valley Media

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Friday, July 3, 2015

HONORING OUR NATION’S HEROES | MEMORIES

It’s hard to forget, but harder to remember Like other veterans, Sterling’s Edward Stralow is reluctant to remember the events that shaped his life, and the world. But a family member is helping him open up and share his role in history

BY JERMAINE PIGEE jpigee@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5525 @JPigee84

STERLING – Edward Stralow doesn’t like talking about his World War II service.

The Army soldier watched close friends get shot and killed, fought on the front line during some of the war’s deadliest battles, and spent countless days and nights in the pouring rain.

“You are scared, but you know what you have to do, and you have to do it,” said Stralow, 95. “When I got out of the war, I just wanted to forget about it and move on, because I have definitely seen the worst of it.”

With the help of his granddaughter, Shelley Zinke, also of Sterling, Stralow has been able to open up and share his war experiences.

“If we don’t get the stories out, we will lose the history,” said Zinke, 43. “If it wasn’t for him and the people who served in that war, we wouldn’t have the freedom that we have today.”

Edward Stralow of Sterling played his part in history, but he’s been somewhat reluctant to recall his role as a member of “The Greatest Generation.” But today, with the help of his granddaughter, Shelly Zinke, he’s opening up and sharing some of those experiences.

“If we don’t get the stories out, we will lose the history,” said Zinke.

STRALOW CONTINUED ON C5

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Sauk Valley Media • C5

HONORING OUR NATION’S HEROES | MEMORIES

Presidents pass along their thanks for vet’s service STRALOW

CONTINUED FROM C4

Stralow, a Sterling native, was drafted in 1943 and served until 1946, in Japan and Leyte, an island in the Philippines.

He attended basic training at the now-closed Camp Callan, in La Jolla, California, where, among other things, he learned hand-to-hand combat.

Pvt. 1st Class Stralow’s job was to shoot down Japanese planes with a 40 mm anti-aircraft gun.

He and three other men operated the weapon, which was buried in a hole deep enough to hide both the men and all but the top of the gun.

“As you shoot, you drop in more ammunition,” Stralow said. “One guy had to refill the gun, one guy had to shoot, another guy had to turn the gun, and I had to aim it – all while getting shot at, and all while it was raining.”

There were 15 to 18 men in his unit, and he had a way to determine when they were about to be attacked: “If you heard a whistle, you didn’t have to worry too much,” he said. “But, if you didn’t hear a whistle, you better be ducking.”

When people hear about the war, they often think about fighting Adolf Hitler and the Germans. But “the worst and the most casualties came from fighting the Japanese,” Zinke said. “There was a war with the Germans and with the Japanese, and [Stralow] was fighting the Japanese.”

He served on several front lines, including in the Battle of Leyte in October 1944, a decisive air and sea battle that crippled the Japanese combined fleet, permitted the U.S. invasion of the Philippines, and reinforced the Allies’ control of the Pacific.

“That was the worst battle in the Philippines,” Stralow said.

“That is where the Japanese kept coming in to chase us out of there. These guys were coming off the ship trying to invade us.”

Among the men killed in that battle were five of his friends.

As for Stralow, “God was

Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com

Mementoes and memories of Edward Stralow’s time in the service, including his dress uniform, and letters from Presidents Harry Truman and Barack Obama. with him that day,” Zinke said.

“There were so many dead people, they could not clear the road.”

“You couldn’t even walk because there were so many dead bodies,” he said.

Pvt. 1st Class Leonard Whaley was one of the casualties.

“He was my best buddy, and he was very close to me,” Stralow said.

Whaley, Stralow and a few other soldiers had been in a hole in Leyte. It was monsoon season, and the hole filled with water, so Whaley decided to sleep in a nearby truck.

“He was tired of being wet, so he started to run toward the truck, but he never made it to the truck because he was shot,” Stralow said. “A lot of the soldiers were killed because they stepped out of the hole we had.”

Edward Stralow Bio

Age: 95 Hometown: Sterling Branch of service: Army Theaters served in: Philippines, Japan Rank: Private first class Years of service: 1943-46

Stralow was not the only member of his family to serve in WWII. His uncle, William Rosenom, died in combat in Italy.

Once he got out of the war, Stralow picked up a job at Northwestern Steel and Wire as a wire roller, where he worked for 24 years. He also spent time as a farmer in Prophetstown.

Stralow was married to his wife, Betty, for 20 years. She died in 1961, when she was 37. Stralow never remarried. He also has two children, Susan Weeks, 67, and

Medals awarded: Good conduct medal, American campaign medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, two bronze arrowheads, World War II victory medal, honorable service medal, and President unit citation.

Randy Stralow, 61.

After his discharge, Stralow received a printed letter signed

by President Harry Truman.

“We found this about a month ago, tucked away in a box,” Zinke said.

“As one of the nation’s finest, you undertook the most severe task one can be called upon to perform,” the letter read.

“Because you demonstrated the fortitude, resourcefulness and calm judgment necessary to carry out that task, we now

look to you for your leadership and example in further exalting our country in peace.”

President Barack Obama also sent Stralow a letter, in April, wishing him a happy 95th birthday.

Stralow is still active. He drives his own car, cuts his own grass, and has survived two heart attacks. Last fall, he went on an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., where he visited the World War II Memorial and other landmarks. He also attends local WWII re-enactments.

And though Stralow is reluctant to recall those days when war raged around him, some things he can’t forget.

“When he finds a 40 millimeter gun, he still knows how to use it,” Zinke said.

It is our honor to salute the heroes, past and present, of our Armed Forces.

Their dedication to our country and to the defense of freedom will never be forgotten.

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you.

The Sterling Moose Family Center & Women of the Moose 2601 E. Lincolnway, Sterling 815-625-0354

C6 • Sauk Valley Media

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Friday, July 3, 2015

HONORING OUR NATION’S HEROES | LESSONS

It’s history repeated World War II re-enactors not only tell stories from the past, but sometimes they get veterans to do the same

BY BRENDEN WEST bwest@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5529 @BWest_SVM

DIXON – Leonard Norman has packed in a lot of memories in his nearly 100 years. Some he’s kept packed away.

But on a sunny summer day in June, Leonard unpacked some of his past at Elk’s Page Park in Dixon, where World War II re-enactors were bringing history to life – history that Leonard played a part in. It’s a role, however, that he’s been reluctant to relive. For Norman, like other veterans, history isn’t always worth repeating.

Last month, though, that changed.

The 96-year-old army veteran was surprised on Father’s Day when his daughter, grandson and greatgrandchildren took him to the park, the site of the annual World War II Re-enacted event organized by local volunteers.

Tents similar to the ones Norman Leonard and other GI’s bunked in dotted Norman the landscape. Performers donned WWII-era uniforms and drove the same kinds of vehicle that Norman would have worked on during his tour as an Army technician in England.

For the public, WWII Re-enacted tries to develop a culture of appreciation for the sacrifices made by U.S. military men and women.

But every once in a while, said event coordinator Charlie Thomas, a veteran like Norman attends.

When they do, the re-enactors give them special attention. They are the veterans the program emulates, after all.

“When they see guys like [Norman] come out here, it’s a special deal for us,” Thomas said. “This is a catalyst for veterans to talk about things with family that they may not normally have the desire to talk about. It helps that family legacy.”

Through the years, Leonard had grown quieter, said his daughter, Deb Blackburn. On Father’s Day, though, he provided a stream of commentary about the re-created world around him.

“He doesn’t say a lot,” Blackburn said, but “they spent a lot of time with him, asked him what he could remember. It was nice. ...”

Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com

Curtis Caylor (left) of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Ryan Simon, of Kaukauna, Wisconsin, discuss the ferocity of the MG-42 8mm machine gun in June with spectators at the World War II re-enactment in Dixon.

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REPEATED CONTINUED ON C7

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Sauk Valley Media • C7

HONORING OUR NATION’S HEROES | LESSONS

Re-enactments can be therapeutic for veterans REPEATED

CONTINUED FROM C6

“I always tell people to listen when he does talk, because you’re going to learn a lot. This really brings it to you that they had to live like this. It makes you appreciate our freedom.”

Norman was given V.I.P. treatment. All WWII vets who attend the program are given free admission and a meal, and are allowed extensive access into whatever they wish to see.

Re-enactors hold lengthy discussions with the special visitors, and organizers make accommodations to transport veterans from display to display.

After the war, Norman took special interest in motorcycles and became a HarleyDavidson mechanic. When event organizers found that out, he was treated to a special ride around park grounds in a restored 1940s-era war motorcycle.

All the while, people listened as Norman opened up about his experiences. It’s something many veterans do at the re-enactments, Thomas said.

“I think it helps. I really think it does,” he

said. “They have a chance to discuss things that their family otherwise wouldn’t experience. I think it’s very therapeutic, very much so.”

Most WWII veterans are in their 90s by now, and eventually the Dixon re-enactment won’t have audience members who were in Europe and lived through what is being re-enacted today.

For now, the re-enactment allows those veterans to safely revisit a world that might not bring up the fondest memories.

Giving older veterans a way to talk about their experiences is meaningful to them, Thomas said.

Finally, there is the element of respect that surrounds veterans like Norman every year.

After announcers highlighted the fact that he toured in England, Norman received a round of applause. That appreciation – or, as Thomas called it, a “commitment to remembering the sacrifice” – serves both those who were there and the young who take away a deeper understanding of a world-changing event.

“The real story is in the legacy – where they were and what they’ve done,” Thomas said.

“We want to keep this history alive because of the sacrifice that they’ve done.”

Thank you to our Veterans for protecting our freedom at home and overseas.

Your service and your sacrifice will always be remembered.

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A dachshund delivers some medical care – well, a peck on the nose, anyway – on June 21 during a World War II re-enactment at Elk’s Page Park in Dixon.

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C8 • Sauk Valley Media

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HONORING OUR NATION’S HEROES | DUTY CALLS

Fields of dreams Walt Fields had hoped to make a name for himself in America’s pastime, but duty called, and he had to worry less about the baseball field and more about the battlefield

BY CHRISTI WARREN cwarren@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5521 @SeaWarren

Walt Fields was just a boy, 17, standing in line, waiting, waiting, waiting until it was his turn to decide his fate: Marines or Navy.

Don’t choose the Marines, his father had told him.

That thought kept spinning in his head as he got closer to the man behind the table.

And then he was there. Walt paused, took a breath, stammered.

He hadn’t quite decided yet. And then he did. Navy. He would join the Navy.

It was 1944, and Walt was 18, fresh out of high school, when they

shipped him off to boot camp. He spent time in the Pacific, working on a sea plane bomber as a petty officer, doing submarine patrol and sea rescues.

And just 2 years later, he was out and ready to embark on the adventure he’d laid out for himself before he joined the Navy: playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

It was 1943 – after he’d joined up, but before he’d been shipped out – and the Dodgers were having a training camp in Indianapolis. On a whim, Walt decided to try out for the team.

Walt had always been good at sports, a natural athlete. He grew up in a family of 12 children, and when his folks lost the farm, athlet-

Oh Deere.

Walter Fields is seen here in 1943, decked out in his Brooklyn Dodgers uniform, ready to play ball.

ics were his life saver.

They played baseball out in the fields, using cow patties for bases.

He never played on a little league team. He never played on a school team, either; his high school didn’t have one.

Instead, he went out for the school’s basketball team.

He thought his natural athleticism would get him through the tryouts and onto the team. Not a chance.

“I was fast, and I could catch, and I could throw,” he said with a smile. “But you have to be able to dribble.”

Eventually he made it on to the B squad.

FIELDS CONTINUED ON C9

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Sauk Valley Media • C9

HONORING OUR NATION’S HEROES | DUTY CALLS

Fields left the diamond and headed to the court FIELDS

CONTINUED FROM C8

“I was learning,” he said. “I was always catching up.”

During his junior year, he’d just finished playing a B squad game and was up in the stands munching on some popcorn. It was the middle of the season, and he was watching as the A squad played.

It was halftime when, all of a sudden, the coach looked around and called out to him.

He wanted Walt to play. That year he ended being a starting guard on a final four team at the state championship.

But back to the Dodgers.

Walt arrived in Indianapolis for an open tryout. Most of the guys there had played baseball regularly throughout their lives, and most of that playing was done on organized teams. Walt was, again, at a disadvantage.

Once the tryout was over, he left. He was anxious that just maybe he wouldn’t have a spot with the Dodgers. Then he found out the Chicago White Sox and the Cubs were having their spring training in French Lick, Indiana. He thought he’d show up to see what would happen.

“I was a crazy kid to think I could crash a big league camp,” he said. But crash it he did, with spikes and his baseball glove in hand.

Jimmy Dykes, the then-manager of the White Sox, was Walt’s hero. So when Walt saw him standing there, mobbed by sports reporters, he knew he had to

get a word in.

He elbowed his way through the crowd, all the way up to Dykes, and when he got there, Dykes asked him what he wanted.

When Walt opened his mouth, stuttering again, he confused Dykes’ last name with the last name of Jimmy Wilson, who managed the Cubs. The two were feuding at the time, so the White Sox’s Jimmy was having none of it. He kicked Walt out of the room.

Walt headed outside and sat on a bench in his letterman’s jacket, his tail between his legs, until he realized that he was about 30 feet from the Cubs’ locker room.

He picked himself up, dusted himself off, and set out to try again – but this time, for the Cubs.

Try out he did, and damn if they didn’t try to sign him, too.

Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com After he left for the service, his whole time overseas he got letters from both Walter Fields holds a booklet he was given when he signed with the Brooklyn the Dodgers and Cubs – the former Dodgers in 1943. Fields joined the Navy in 1944, during World War II. keeping tabs on him until it was time for him to return, the latter courting him to sign with them.

After the war, he spent a year in the Dodgers’ farm system before he decided it was time to go to college. He ended up majoring in physical education, and – returning to the sport he played in high school – coaching college basketball for the rest of his career.

And now, at age 90, he lives in an old house in between Morrison and Fulton, near some beautiful woods, insisting that his life story isn’t much to fuss over.

Walt, you’ll have to forgive us for dis• • • • • • • agreeing.

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The route is a compact 26 miles. Along the way, you will see unique barns, livestock and other surprises. Tour goers will also have the opportunity to visit and learn about the work of WHOA - White Oaks Therapeutic Equestrian Center - offering equine assisted activities to individuals with special needs.

Come to Whiteside County. Spend a weekend in the country.

We look forward to seeing you!

Go to “Sauk Valley Jobs” in today’s classified section for helpful career information.

CLASSIFIED

The 2015 Whiteside County Barn tour will feature ten farms with twelve barns in the Morrison area. The tour starts at the historic round barn located on the Whiteside County Fairgrounds, 201 West Winfield Street, Morrison.

Admission: $20 per vehicle - No Advance Sales (admission includes tour book and map) Tour goers will be able to pay their admission using a credit card. An additional $1.00 transaction fee will be charged. Additional tour books, including books from past tours, will be available for purchase.

Tour starts at the first barn site: 201 W. Winfield Street, Morrison.

SAUK VALLEY

daily GAZETTE TELEGRAPH

Whiteside Co. Farm Bureau - 100 East Knox St., Morrison, IL 815-772-2165 • wcfb@frontiernet.net

www.whitesidecountybarntour.com

C10 • Sauk Valley Media

www.saukvalley.com

Friday, July 3, 2015

HONORING OUR NATION’S HEROES | HONOR

It’s an honor and a privilege Donations, dedication, and volunteers’ sense of duty send veterans on a trip of a lifetime of them never did. Many couldn’t afford to go, or they weren’t physically able to make the trip alone.

Morse, who was also a private pilot, On April 30, a flight touched down at Washington Dulles Interna- began offering veterans, one at time, tional airport. The passenger list a plane ride to visit the memorial. looked more like a duty roster from He later enlisted other private pilots a decades-old war. It was a roll call to do the same, with the stipulation that put former GI’s front and cen- that the veterans pay nothing for the ter. But this time, it wasn’t the sol- trip.

The Honor Flight tours got off the diers who were standing at attention. It was the people greeting ground in earnest in May 2005 when them, people who were grateful for six small planes flew out of Springthe mission these veterans chose to field, Ohio, carrying a dozen World War II veterans bound for Washingaccept decades ago.

On that flight were veterans of ton, D.C. As word spread about the World War II and the Korean War program, the waiting list became longer and the person– most of them from al mission eventually the Sauk Valley – and More info grew into a national the people gathered Honor Flight Netnetwork that transion the tarmac and work: honorflight.org tioned to using comat the terminal were Honor Flight of the mercial airlines. there to honor their Quad Cities Today, Honor Flights service, which was fitBob Morrison, Hub are organized across ting. This was, after all, Director the nation and have an Honor Flight.

4130 Northwest Blvd grown to include KoreHonor Flights pay to Davenport, IA 52806 an War veterans. The fly veterans to WashEmail: bmorrison at network soon plans to ington, D.C., to see ridgecrestvillage dot org include Vietnam Vetthe memorials built in Phone: 563-388-3271 erans too. their honor.

Online: honorflightqc.

In 2008, the Illinois The idea of Honor com/, and on Facebook and Iowa Quad Cities Flights began in 2004, formed a local chapshortly after the World War II Memorial was dedicated in ter of the Honor Flight Network, the Honor Flight of the Quad Cities, for Washington, D.C..

According to the Honor Flight Net- veterans within a 75-mile radius of work, a federal nonprofit organiza- the Quad Cities.

For Morse, the success of the tion that organizes Honor Flights, the network was conceived by Earl Honor Flights was a mission accomMorse, a physician assistant and plished – a way to recognize service retired U.S. Air Force captain who members who were called to arms.

For area veterans, the Honor Flight worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs at a small clinic in Spring- was a day they’ll never forgot. On the Sauk Valley homefront, the April field, Ohio.

When he would talk with patients, trip took veterans from Rock Falls, the topic of the World War II Memo- Amboy, Franklin Grove, Lanark and rial would come up again and again, other area cities to Washington D.C. and Morse would ask veterans if On this and the following page are they would ever visit the memorial. photos from that day, a day when They all said they’d like to, but most heroes were honored.

STAFF REPORT news@svnmail.com 800-798-4085, ext. 501

Photos by Christopher Heimerman/cheimerman@saukvalley.com

Joe Flies of Fulton and his guardian, John Papritz of Clinton, Iowa, are welcomed by a soldier after the Honor Flight landed in Washington, D.C., in April.

Army veteran Raymond Hellfrich, 81, of Dixon, receives a warm welcome at Washington Dulles International in Washington, D.C. Taryn Astill, 8 months, graciously highfived veterans as they stepped out of the shuttle and into the terminal during the Honor Flight. Her mom, Eileen, pulled her four children out of class – they’re homeschooled – for the field trip. “We were so excited to meet some of these heroes in our life,” Eileen said.

KSB Wellness Year in Review The mission of KSB Community Wellness is to restore, maintain, and enhance health to our community by providing wellness opportunities and educational resources to improve the quality of life. This year, we’ve created more programs and partnered with organizations throughout the community to make health and wellness a priority.

You may have seen some of our programs:

AmeriHeart Event

The Mind-Body Connection

Runners Injury Workshop

1514 W. 4 Street th

Be Stroke Aware

Oregon Park Bike Rodeo

Sterling (815) 625-5949

Visit ksbhospital.com for upcoming events and wellness activities.

Friday, July 3, 2015

www.saukvalley.com

Sauk Valley Media • C11

HONORING OUR NATION’S HEROES | HONOR

Elmer Prins of Morrison, seen in the reflection of the Vietnam War Memorial, takes photos of the memorial during the Honor Flight.

The Quad Cities Honor Flight Veterans take in the Photos by Christopher Heimerman/cheimerman@saukvalley.com changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Army veteran Delbert Schafer, 83, of Franklin Grove, Soldier at Arlington Memorial Cemetery during the reads letters from school children in April on the ride Honor Flight. Many of the veterans called the ceremony the highlight of their trip. back to Moline, following the Honor Flight.

Army veteran Delbert Schafer, 83, of Franklin Grove, traces John M. Babich’s name in April at the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C., during the Honor Flight. Babich, a farmer before the war, was killed in the Vietnam War, and the men’s mothers were first cousins.

Students from Calvary Episcopal Preparatory in Richmond, Texas, have a picture taken with Army veterans Joseph Flies (left), 96, of Fulton and Clarence Vincent, 83, of Walnut outside the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., during April’s Honor Flight.

Brothers John (left), 83, and Richard Janssen, 81, of Chadwick and Milledgeville, respectively, muster up smiles in the April rain at the Korean War Veterans Memorial. The lifelong farmers took a proactive and pragmatic approach to serving their country. They enlisted during a relatively nonviolent period of the Korean War, rather than leaving their fates up to the draft.

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C12 • Sauk Valley Media

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Friday, July 3, 2015

HONORING OUR NATION’S HEROES | DUTY

Sterling veteran has the right stuff

Army veteran Kyle Pletsch is a paramedic for CGH Medical Center in Sterling.

Pletsch does his duty, nothing more, nothing less – but what he does makes a big difference Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com

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ROCK FALLS – For the past 5 years, Kyle Pletsch has spent his working days as a paramedic for CGH Medical Center in Sterling, which can sometimes be backbreaking work. But the stooping, crawling, lifting, and sweating for 12-hour shifts are a part of the job, and he’s proud to do it.

The 33-year-old Sterling High grad commands a firm handshake and a strong presence, tempered by a light, carefree humor – evidence of a rough road traveled.

Pletsch joined the Army in high school through a program that allowed to him to complete his diploma, and served from Duty and responsibility July 2000 to August 2004, during which While deployed, he exchanged music time he rose to the rank of sergeant. and movies with friends to keep busy, and “I joined as soon as I turned 17,” books always were availPletsch said. “It’s someable – he read about 48 thing that I had always while overseas. wanted to do.”

I joined [the He grew close to his His parents thought Army] as soon brothers in arms, and his interest in the milias I turned 17. although he hasn’t seen tary was just a phase, them in more than 10 It’s something he recalled, and they years, he’s kept regular felt a “gutshot” when he that I had always contact. showed up at home from wanted to do.

In a month, he’ll be the recruiting station Kyle Pletsch in Florida for a wedwith brochures. ding as a groomsman – He was guaranteed job four of six groomsmen placement, scored well in the wedding party on the entrance exam, served in Iraq together. and promptly landed a “It’ll be fun,” he said. “We’ll pick up role as an artillery and cannon crew right where we left off.” member.

One of the hardest decisions of his Iraqi Freedom life was when he weighed the pros and After 3 years of service, Pletsch was cons of leaving the service, he said, headed to a cookout in Fort Carson, because he enjoyed the work and loved Colorado, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day it immensely.

But state and federal benefits lured in 2003 when he saw a crowd of soldiers gathering in a parking lot. Little did he Pletsch, and pursuing an education was know that he, too, would soon be gath- a priority.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in busiering with his fellow soldiers.

A phone call 4 hours later ordered him ness and marketing from Western Illito report for duty before dawn the next nois University, and kept his mind open morning, and 2 months later, Middle to more.

“I always wanted to go into the fire serEastern sands were under his boots.

It was “just plain hot,” Pletsch said vice or EMS or be a police officer,” he with a laugh. He said that temperatures said. “With my job, I’m one 500-pound patient from throwing out my back and there often would reach 130 degrees.

He deployed for a year, joining the ending my career.”

The degree is his fallback option.

U.S.-led effort to stall and dismantle Pletsch brings a sense of duty to work Saddam Hussein’s regime, and was active in the initial offensive wave of every day, and explained that while his time on Earth is limited, he wants to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

His combat brothers were soldiers of the help people, and being a paramedic is 4th Infantry Division, 3rd Brigade Com- his way to do that.

“Be in the right place, at the right bat Team, 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artiltime, in the right uniform,” he said. “Do lery, Charlie Battery, based in Colorado.

The “Pacesetter” battalion secured what’s expected of you … nothing more, positions near Taji and Samarra, Iraq, nothing less.”

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established a forward base at Samarra East Airfield, and provided fire support.

Charlie Battery also performed security patrols, raids and checkpoint operations in neighboring towns in an attempt to slow insurgent activity.

“Make no sudden movements. Keep your hands visible at all times,” reads a framed checkpoint warning sign that Pletsch kept from his time in Iraq. “Follow all instructions and you will be safe.”

Several Iraqi dinars add to his memorabilia, but before returning stateside, a disposal order was given concerning personal collections, he said.

About a week later, another order rescinded that policy, but by then, Pletsch had dumped most of his treasure.

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BY ANGEL SIERRA asierra@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5695 @_angelsierra