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May 27, 2010 - It turned out to be a beautiful, not-too-warm day for the 55 World War II and Korean War veterans who came to the Arbor Theater for a pre-Memorial Day Recognition Ceremony. The idea for this ceremony came about when the VHPD was contacted by Honor Flight Chicago, a not-for-profit organization that sends veterans to Washington D.C. to see the national veteran's memorial there. We were told there was one Vernon Hills veteran on their list and they wanted to know if we were interested in helping send that veteran on a very memorable trip. Of course we wanted to help! But after we looked around, we realized that we have over 75 veterans in our town!
Along with Countryside Fire Protection District, Lincolnshire Riverwoods Protection District and American Legion Post #1247, we raised $2,500 to help with the mission, but felt we should do something for all the veterans. Deputy Chief Jon Petrillo came up with idea of the ceremony and everyone agreed it was a great idea. Sgt. Todd Williams, the coordinator of our Blue Line for the Front Line initiative, said, "In the spirit of leaving no one behind and taking care of our own, we decided to make our donation to Honor Flight and hold our own recognition ceremony for all the Vernon Hills seniors who have served our country."
So this morning, we recognized those veterans who gave of themselves so that we can call America the "Land of the Free." Here is a list of the veterans who were honored and below that are some pictures from the event.
Lt. Edward A. Andreasen - United States Air Force
A.O.M. Steve J. Bernard - United States Navy
Seaman Harold Bly - United States Navy
PFC Sheldon Brenner - United States Army
SSG Jim Brown - United States Army Air Force
Radarman Charles Collins - United States Navy
Private Dottie Corra - United States Army Air Corps
Lt. David Crames - United States Army
PFC Charles Cuzmanko - United States Army
Cpl. George Davies - United States Army
Petty Officer 2nd Class Preston Davies - United States Navy
Sgt. Roger W. Davisson - United States Army
Sgt. Frank Deppe - United States Marine Corps
Cpl. Adolph Dobslaf - United States Army
Lt. Paul A. Dougherty, Jr. - United States Army Air Force
Fireman 2nd Class John Endres - United States Navy
Cpl. Sam Fisher - United States Army
T/Sgt. Val Fonk - United States Army
PFC Arthur Friedman - United States Army
SSG William Gilchrist - United States Army Air Corps
PFC Samuel Glickstein - United States Army
Seaman 2nd Class Ira Herb Goldberg - United States Navy
Cpt. Ernest Graham - United States Army Air Corps
2nd Class Radio Operator Joseph Gray - United States Navy
Cpt. Brad Grinnell - United States Air Force
Cpl. Harold Gross - United States Army Air Corps
Dr. Jules Hazelcorn, Captain of Dentistry - United States Army
Seaman 2nd Class James T. Heier - United States Navy
Specialist 3rd Class Robert Hoffmann - United States Army
T/Sgt. Dave Johnson - United States Army Air Corps
Sgt. Herb Kahn - United States Army
SSG Norman Kramer - United States Army
Technician 5 Vernon Krautstrunk - United States Army
Cpt. Sidney Leeds - United States Army
LTC Frank Luciano - United Sates Army
1st Class Petty Officer Charles "Mac" McBee - United States Navy
Major Robert "Bob" Myslis - United States Army
Technician 3rd Grade Joe Pordan, Jr. - United States Army
Sgt. Leonard Powell - United States Army
T-5 Ray Prill - United States Army
PFC Ted Ross - United States Army
Private Ralph Salle - United States Army
Sgt. Mollie Schaffer - Women's Army Corps
T-5 Karl Schmied - United States Army
Cmdr. John Seeger - United States Navy
PFC Marvin Singer - United States Army
Sgt. Horace Spira - United States Army Corps
Cpl. William Springer - United States Army Air Corps
Sgt. Edward Sychta - United States Army Air Corps
Specialist 4th Class Michael Telson - United States Army
Specialist 1 2nd Class George C. Thompson - United States Navy
Yeoman 1st Class Lorraine M. Thompson - United States Navy
Seaman 1st Class Robert Tucker - United States Navy
Cpl. Gene Willis - United States Army
Sgt. Bill Zastrow - United States Army
And a special mention of Cpl. Irving Beekil, United States Army Air Corps, who passed away this past weekend.
We thank all of our past, current and future veterans for their service, their dedication and their sacrifice.
 
 
 
 
 
 
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