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.