FRidAy, NoVEmbER 8, 2019
Reflections of our
VETERANS
Page 2 | REFLECTIONS OF OUR VETERANS | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2019
Residents invited to Veterans Day program at county courthouse By Albert Lea Tribune
Area residents are invited to attend the annual Veterans Day ceremony Monday morning at the Freeborn County courthouse. The ceremony will begin outdoors with the raising of the colors, volley firing and the playing of taps at the Freeborn County Veterans Memorial. The program will then move indoors to the Freeborn County Commissioners board room, where American Legion Post 56 Cmdr. Jeff Olson will lead the ceremony. The keynote speaker will be retired Lt. Col. Paul Hosfield of the U.S. Army Reserves infantry, followed by musical selections by the Albert Lea Careyaires. After the program there will be a noon meal in the American Legion club room at 142 N. Broadway, with Olson leading a POW/ MIA remembrance service. Several veterans will also take part in a Veterans Day ceremony at Albert Lea High School in the A veteran salutes as the U.S. flag is raised during a previous Veterans Day ceremony in front of Freeborn County Courthouse. COLLEEN HARRISON/ALBERT LEA TRIBUNE morning.
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Recognizing veteRans fRom the aRea
WE ASkED RESIDENTS TO SUBMIT phOTOS OF ThEIR LOVED ONES IN MILITARY SERVICE
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Brandon Hanson of Albert Lea Army National Guard 2001 to 2008 Completed a tour in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2004 and Kosovo from 2007 to 2008
Ryan Sabinish of Albert Lea U.S. Army 2003 to 2011
Donald Dennis of Austin Navy World War II Gunners Mate Second Class
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2019 | REFLECTIONS OF OUR VETERANS | Page 5
James Brossard Army Special Forces medic and special ops Vietnam War 1964 to 1969
Dennis Hamberg U.S. Army Vietnam War Jan. 6, 1970, to October 1972
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Jeffrey Dahlen of Freeborn Sergeant First Class Minnesota Army National Guard 1991 to present
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Vietnam Veteran Memorial needs 435 missing photos to complete ‘Wall of Faces’ project As we approach Veterans Day, I would like to share two very important numbers with you: 58,276 and 405. As of Memorial Day 2019, there are 58,276 names on the national Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Wall of Faces, honoring service members of the U.S. armed forces who fought in Vietnam, those who died in service in Vietnam/ southeast Asia and those service members who went unaccounted for during the war. A 1973 fire in St. Louis, Missouri, destroyed their military records, leaving no photos behind. In 2013, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund set out to find the pictures to preserve their legacies and sacrifices. As of October, only 405 names are still missing pictures. Across the country, volunteers and organizations like the National Newspaper Association and the Newspaper
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Association Managers are helping the program leave no one behind. Andrew Johnson is the publisher of the Dodge County Pioneer in Mayville, Wisconsin, and the immediate past president of the NNA. As NNA president, Johnson championed this cause and led the charge to find over 15,000 missing pictures. “One of the greatest ways we can honor veterans is to recognize their work and sacrifice,” Johnson said. Johnson speaks from experience, as his own son, First Lieutenant David A. Johnson, was KIA in Afghanistan in 2012. This cause became extremely personal for him, and he is absolutely thrilled at how close the project is to being completed.
“Let’s finish this project for Veterans Day for our nation’s Vietnam heroes,” he said. The VVMF needs your help to find the last 405 missing photos. Share the VVMF’s story and the veterans’ names. We need to find family or friends of these fallen soldiers to get their picture and give them the honor they deserve. You can search for the names yourself by going to www.vvmf. org/missing-photos. The public can upload photos directly to the VVMF website. Contact the VVMF directly by emailing Latosha Adams at ladams@vvmf.org or by calling 202-765-3774. You can also send me an email and I will share the list with you at ballfrey@utahpress.com. Brian Allfey is executive director of the Utah Press Association.
Walz declares November Not all “news” as Military Family Month sources are created equal #Support Real News
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Gov. Tim Walz on Nov. 1 declared November as Military Family Month to salute and celebrate the military families whose selfless service and sacrifice make the U.S. military the finest in the world, according to a press release. Nearly 1,000 Minnesota National Guard soldiers and airmen are deployed this month. Service men and women rely on their families Tim for strength and support during Walz deployment, the release stated. People are encouraged to reach out to a neighbor, church member, co-worker or an acquaintance whose family member
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is deployed. Connect with the Yellow Ribbon network within your community or company. There are more than 300 networks in place statewide. If you’re not connected to a military family, visit Beyond the Yellow Ribbon online. Military family month was first celebrated in 1993. The following year, President Bill Clinton issued a presidential proclamation establishing National Military Families Recognition Day. Subsequent presidents and governors have issued proclamations designating November as Military Family Month.
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Retired Alden farmer served in Vietnam War, received Purple Heart By Colleen Harrison
colleen.harrison@albertleatribune.com
At 19 years old, life was pretty simple in 1969 for Steve Sorensen. He lived in Alden, where he grew up, and worked at Streater as a forklift operator. Then he was drafted. Sorensen, now 70, said he didn’t care for the news initially, as he knew his service during the Vietnam War would take him away from home for awhile, but over time he said he adapted. Sorensen left two weeks after finding out he had been drafted for Fort Lewis, Washington, where he went through basic training for nine weeks. He then returned home for two weeks, before going back to Washington for nine more weeks of advanced individual training, or combat training. After another two weeks home, he left for Vietnam out of Fort Lewis, stopping in Hawaii and Guam along the way. He remembered taking an 18-hour commercial flight to Vietnam full of GIs, and sitting in the back of the plane with one of his friends — who ultimately would not return home. Once in Vietnam, Sorensen underwent two more weeks of training before joining his Army unit. It was the training in Vietnam that prepared him the most for his service, Sorensen said, as they used mock villages and other setups and learned how to find mines. He was generally based out of Chulia, Vietnam, but Sorensen said the area his unit covered was vast and consisted of all different types of terrain — “from rice paddies to the mountains” in the central highlands inland from the ocean, he said. His unit patrolled different areas, and one week a month were stationed at San Juan Hill Fire Base. Sorensen said other than being at the base, they were always on the move patrolling for the North Vietnamese Army/People’s Army of Vietnam or the Vietcong. His unit was meant to track their movements, looking
“I don’t regret it at all. I’m glad I went through it. There were some really bad times and some really good times.” — Army veteran Steve Sorensen, on his service during the Vietnam War for campsites and trying to figure out what weapons they had at their disposal. They also captured those they came across from either movement. Sorensen said he adjusted and adapted quickly to what became everyday life while serving. “You just learn to,” he said. At night, he said he learned to listen for abnormal sounds, such as metal clicks from enemy weapons being loaded. While serving, letters and care packages from home kept his spirits up, Sorensen said. He would also take pictures during his service and send the rolls of film home to his mother, who would have them developed and then put the pictures into a book for him. Sorensen was injured by grenade shrapnel at one point during his service, earning him a Purple Heart. The injury didn’t impede his patrol duties, though, as he said it lined up with his unit’s rotation at the fire base and he was able to rest up during that week before going back out on patrol with everyone else. During war time, there were lighter moments that stay with Sorensen. He said there was a time where the unit had no food coming in, and had to live off what they could find. Sorensen happened to find a package of smoked oysters at See HEART, Page 8
Steve Sorensen points out on a map at the Tribune where he served in Vietnam and where he stopped along the way there. COLLEEN HARRISON/ALBERT LEA TRIBUNE
Denny Brue Denny Brue served in the United States Army during the Vietnam War. He was a clerk and he delivered the mail by helicopter and land to his fellow brothersin-arms. Missed & Loved! Roxanne & Family Thank You For Your Service & SacriFice.
Major Steven M. Dittrich Major Dittrich served in the United States Army Reserves in the branch of Ordnance, Civil Affairs and JAG from 5/26/91 - 6/1/13. We love you and are very proud of you! Your Family Thank you for your service & sacrifice.
With gratitude and respect, we thank you for your service. inform.involve.inspire. Albert Lea Tribune | 808 W. Front St. | Albert Lea, MN 56007 | 507.371-1411
Page 8 | REFLECTIONS OF OUR VETERANS | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2019
Heart Continued from Page 7
the bottom of his rucksack that he ended up sharing with his squad leader — a Philadelphia eagles fan. they now have “the Oyster Bowl” each year the Vikings and eagles play each other, where the losing team’s fan sends the victorious fan smoked oysters through the mail. Sorensen made some lifelong friends during his service time who he gradually lost touch with, until someone worked to track down everyone’s contact info to reunite the unit. they now get together each year to march in a Veterans Day parade in Las Vegas. “they started off from where they left off,” said Sorensen’s wife, Candace, of the men reuniting. “that friendship ... it’s like a little family.” Sorensen would end up serving in Vietnam for exactly one year — from Oct. 1, 1969, to Oct. 1, 1970. He was still patrolling up until about one week before starting his journey back to the United States. Once back in the U.S. he was home on leave for one month, before finishing his remaining six months of service at Fort Knox,
Kentucky. Sorensen said he could’ve stayed in Vietnam for 20 more days and then would have been completely done with his service, but declined, saying he was ready to return to the U.S. Once out of the service and back living in alden, Sorensen got his job back at Streater and returned to everyday life fairly easily after the initial adjustment. Sorensen joined the alden american Legion after returning home and is now a life member. He is a member of Disabled american Veterans and is a life member of Vietnam Veterans of america as well. He eventually moved on to work at Queen Stoves before getting into farming soybeans and corn on his family farm in alden. It wouldn’t be until reuniting and talking with his unit friends decades later that Sorensen would realize he had been living with post traumatic stress from his service, something that wasn’t talked about much until recent years, he said. Still, Sorensen said he values his time serving. “I don’t regret it at all,” he said. “I’m glad I went through it. there were some really bad times and some really good times. It was a rough time in our history.”
Army veteran Steve Sorensen is pictured around July 1970 during his time serving in Vietnam. See more photos at albertleatribune.com. PROVIDED
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