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Carroll honors community veterans
Social studies teacher Glen Dillman related the statistic as he moderated the school's Veterans Day program. He said the veterans present were a representative body of all the veterans who live in the community. "We sought out and found persons who have been in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Army and Navy Reserves, and National Guard," Dillman said. He described the representative group as veterans of World War II, Korean War, peacetime military of the Cold War, Vietnam, Persian Gulf War, Panama, Iraq War, and Afghanistan War. "These men and women know the price of protecting the nation," Dillman continued. "They, above all others, hope and pray that there will be no wars. Today we honor the warrior; we do not honor war." Dillman called for each of the veterans to stand as he read a short biography about each one. Most of the veterans honored live in the Flora area, either as natives or transplants. Most are retired and have served the community in various professions including teachers, farmers, postal employees, electricians, salesmen, and business owners. Honorees present for the program were Richard Smith, Steve Mills, Eldo Beam, Mitch Sanderson, Charles Simison, Pete Jackson, Joe Ayres, Lew Kressley, Amos McGinnis, Bill Ayres, Bob Fraley, Mark Cook, Jason Dunning, C.J. Harmon, Merritt Hardt, Don Ramsey, Ralph Sparks, Richard Curts, Mike Wilcox, Joe Oyler, James Bowman, and Judy Hoffman. Excerpts from some of the biographies follow: Charles Simison was in the Navy ROTC program at Purdue from 1946-1950 and served on active duty from 1950-1953. As part of his tour, he served off Korea on the destroyer USS Waxwing in minesweeping and blockade duty. His destroyer returned home, circling the world in a Goodwill Tour. Amos McGinnis was part of the U.S. 3rd Army Engineers that landed in France five days after D-Day. He drove a truck ashore standing up, with water up to his chest, on Omaha Beach. He helped construct bridges while under fire all across France to the Elbe River. Bill Ayres was in the Army infantry in hard fighting on the front lines in the Korean War. During the fighting, his squad went three months and one week without being able to change clothes, and one week without food. Mike Wilcox served in the U.S. Air Force from 1968-1988 and was a navigator and bombardier in B-52 bombers as part of the 307th Strategic Air Wing. He logged 118 combat missions over Vietnam, Hanoi, and Haiphong Harbor and was awarded the Air Medal seven times and two Distinguished Flying Cross Medals. He later was assigned to England as part of the 77th Tactical Fighter Squadron and was a weapons officer on F-111 aircraft that supported NATO forces in protecting Europe. Joe Oyler served 29 years with the Army Reserves and two years active duty during the Persian Gulf War. He specialized in infantry and logistics. He created a data base while in Saudi Arabia that was used in moving troops and supplies. He was the only Carroll County soldier injured during the Persian Gulf War. Dillman also read the biography of Fred Sorrells, who was invited to the program but unable to attend. Sorrells served in the Army Air Corps from 1942-1945, flying out of Great Britain on 42 air combat missions. He shot down four German airplanes, including a German jet. Dillman pointed out that Sorrells and Bill Ayres have a common grandson, Brady Sorrells, who is serving in Iraq today. Judy Hoffman was the only woman sitting on stage with the veterans in the school auditorium. "Judy did not serve in the military," Dillman said, "but Judy stands today for her father who was a member of the 325 Glider Infantry Unit of the 82nd Airborne Division that was a part of the D-Day invasion in June of 1944. Her father only saw her one time, as an infant, because Staff Sgt. Forest Nipple was killed in action on June 11, 1944. He is buried in St. Laurent, France, at the U.S. Military Cemetery. Other parts of the program included Presentation of Colors by Boy Scout Troop 144, Pledge of Allegiance and National Anthem, a video of Jennifer Love Hewitt with an explanation of Veterans Day, student reading of the President's Veterans Day Proclamation, and the playing of Taps. The veterans left the auditorium with a standing ovation by the students. This was the first Veterans Day program at the school in many years. It was organized by Dillman and school principal Charles Huckstep, with musical assistance from teacher Joe Spence and technical assistance from assistant principal Fred Schnarr. Dillman gave the reason for re-establishing the Veterans Day program. "It was the right thing to do," he said. "It needed to be done." |
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