2023 Salute Magazine

S LUTE November | 2023

VETERANS DAY 2023

THE GREATEST SECRET FROM THE GREATEST GENERATION

A FAMILY TRADITION OF SERVICE

HARRY MEYER RECALLS BEING 18 WHEN HE LANDED ON OKINAWA, JAPAN, WITH HIS RADIO AND A STATE SECRET, A NATIVE CODE TALKER.

COLONEL TONY M. WICKMAN HAS SPENT THE LAST 26 ½ YEARS IN THE AIR FORCE TRAVELING AROUND THE WORLD.

A publication of the Brainerd Dispatch and Echo Journal

2023 Veterans Day Salute | 1

Thank You

FOR YOUR SERVICE AND SACRIFICE

With gratitude, we honor America’s veterans and military personnel.

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CONTENTS ‘23 Staff PUBLISHER Pete Mohs ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Susie Alters LAYOUT DESIGNER Andy Goble

On the cover:

Presentation of the colors Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023, for the Dedication and Ceremonial Groundbreaking for the Minnesota Military and Veterans Museum just outside Camp Ripley.

Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch

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S LUTE November | 2023

VETERANS DAY 2023

THE GREATEST SECRET FROM THE GREATEST GENERATION

A FAMILY TRADITION OF SERVICE

HARRY MEYER RECALLS BEING 18 WHEN HE LANDED ON OKINAWA, JAPAN, WITH HIS RADIO AND A STATE SECRET, A NATIVE CODE TALKER.

COLONEL TONY M. WICKMAN HAS SPENT THE LAST 26 ½ YEARS IN THE AIR FORCE TRAVELING AROUND THE WORLD.

A publication of the Brainerd Dispatch and Echo Journal 2023 Veterans Day salute | 1

Photo illustration by Andy Goble

Features

THE GREATEST SECRET FROM THE GREATEST GENERATION • 6

By Tim Speier, Brainerd Dispatch

Harry Meyer recalls being 18 when he landed on Okinawa, Japan, with his radio and a state secret, a Native Code Talker.

A FAMILY TRADITION OF SERVICE • 12

By Tim Speier, Brainerd Dispatch

Colonel Tony M. Wickman has spent the last 26 ½ years in the Air Force traveling around the world.

RETIRED NAVAL COMMANDER STARTED IN PINE RIVER • 36

By Travis Grimler, Echo Journal

Peterson’s ships faced smugglers, pirates, terrorists and a devastating disease.

Veterans Day Salute is an annual publication of the Brainerd Dispatch and Echo Journal.

Copyright© 2013 VOLUME 11, FALL 2023

Also in this issue

22 4 | 2023 Veterans Day Salute

Local photo submissions of Brainerd lakes area veterans — past and present.

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Greatest Secret From the

The

BY TIM SPEIER Brainerd Dispatch

Greatest

Generation Harry Meyer recalls being 18 when he landed on Okinawa, Japan, with his radio and a state secret, a Native Code Talker.

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ith World War II in full swing in 1945, a farm kid from Red Lake County found himself working with the Marines on a secret project in Okinawa, Japan — a secret he kept from his family until 2004.

Born Oct. 10, 1926, Harry Meyer was a 17-year-old senior in high school in 1944 when he volunteered to join the Navy.

“All the seniors that spring were going to volunteer and I wanted to go with them,” said Meyer, who lives in Baxter.

Attending boot camp at the Naval Training Station in Farragut, Indiana, Meyer was then sent off to Long Beach, California, he told the Crosby-Ironton Courier in a previous interview. Meyer 6 | 2023 Veterans Day Salute

Harry Meyer talked Thursday, Sept. 28, about his time in the Navy during World War II where he worked with the Native American Code Talkers.

Tim Speier / Brainerd Dispatch

said the Navy found out he had prior experience with radios and selected him for special training in Long Beach.

That experience came when he was about 13 years old as he wanted to do something about school bullies.

Meyer said he and a few friends put together an AM broadcast to warn others of the bully and to play music.

“The whole thing was, we picked the spot on the radio dial that we couldn’t hear a thing on it,” Meyer said. “OK, so then we turned our broadcaster to that spot.”

The problem arose on their second broadcast when the weather helped carry their signal all the way to Oklahoma, where a station registered with the Federal Communications Commission was using the same frequency.

“And that’s where it got reported to the feds,” Meyer said. “But anyway, we came home from school and Bobby’s mother said, ‘There was two men here looking for you boys.’”

“What did they want,” Meyer recalled asking his friend’s mother.

“They said they’d be back,” she said.

And back they came. Meyer said

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federal agents came and asked them questions for about two hours, “... trying to get all the information out of us for having the broadcast radio without getting a license.”

Finishing up radio training before New Years 1944 in Long Beach, Meyer said he was issued a short liberty leave, though he returned to an empty barracks building on base with a note on his door telling him to head down to Dana Point, California.

“I didn’t know where Dana Point was, I hadn’t heard of it,” Meyer said. “So I stopped at a filling station and I says, ‘Is there a Dana Point around here?’

“He says, ‘It’s about 90 miles south going down to San Diego.’”

“I guess I’ll have to hitchhike to get there. I got on the road and this car went past me, slammed on the brakes.

He was quite a ways ahead of me by the time he got stopped, and I just stood there and let the dust settle.”

Meyer said there was little to no communication or transportation back then as compared to now. So he got in the vehicle and headed down to Dana Point.

Dana Point is a point of land that sticks out in the Pacific about half a mile, Meyer said. The village was on the other side of the railroad tracks with about 15 buildings in the community.

The Dana Point Times wrote an article in 2013 that described the outpost as a strategic defense outpost during WWII as it had an altitude of about 200 feet above the ocean and had a view of the horizon stretching to

about 16 miles out.

The post acted as a lookout against an attack by the Japanese and those stationed there would radio in any observations, Meyer said.

Arriving at Dana Point, Meyer said he was not sure where to go and started toward some building he saw across the railroad tracks when a military Jeep pulled up and eventually took him to the post.

It was there Meyer was told he would be working on a secret project, one he would not talk about until the early 2000s.

“Well, you’re here and you can’t tell anybody where you’re at, you can’t even write home,” Meyer said of the long lecture he received before they even got into any paperwork. “And so, I swore my life away on it. I wouldn’t say anything to anybody and then we started in, step by step, into the codework.”

Meyer said they would have Marines and Native Code Talkers come to his location to practice. Being so strict in their secrecy, they were barred even from talking to others within the same group about what was happening.

Around Easter 1945, Meyer was sent to San Francisco, where he joined the fight in World War II’s Pacific Theater as a Native Code Talker radio man assigned to work with the Marines.

“I never even had a chance to change clothes and I was on the ship going to Hawaii,” Meyer said. “When I got into Hawaii, they pulled into the dock area and all I did was go from this

ship to that ship and pulled out and off into the Pacific.”

They were so secretive the radio men and the Native Code Talkers were not even in the same part of the ship, Meyer said. Even most officers on the ship had no idea what they were doing.

“I was the carrier for the radio, and that was my business,” Meyer said.

“His business is to get the right signal.”

Meyer said when they would broadcast a coded signal, they would have to move away from their broadcast location to avoid naval bombardment and Japanese detection.

“We moved every time we broadcast,” Meyer said. “Yeah, even if we were on foot, we moved.”

Arriving on Okinawa around May or June 1945, Meyer said the Marines had already invaded the island and were in a stalemate. “They couldn’t push Americans off and Americans couldn’t push the Japanese.”

“We’d get a signal back to us and we’d have to see if we could pinpoint where a (specific) gun was,” Meyer said. “OK, guns firing all over but where’s that one machine gun? ‘OK, it’s down there maybe a mile from us.’

Give a signal out with the Code Talker.

The accuracy of those guns coming in off the ocean — unbelievable. Really, just but one volley … no more nothing there anymore, just a hole.”

Meyer said they would be working on one section of the island and then they would be picked up by a boat and placed on another part of the island.

“We could just take off and run for

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a quarter of a mile or so through the jungle and stuff and you find a good hiding spot and hunker down there tight and wait for the bombardment but then when everything would quiet down again, then we start looking again,” Meyer said.

Within a few months of being in theater, the war ended Sept. 2, 1945, though Meyer said there were still hold-outs who would not surrender, making life in the Pacific a bit hectic for a while.

“When the island was seized, a whole bunch of Japanese committed suicide by jumping off the cliff. The bodies were still in that bay. And after the storm the water got rough enough to actually pick the bodies up and push them inland. We spent two days helping retrieve those bodies. That was not a nice job.”

Around the end of September 1945, Meyer was sent to Guam to help repair communications after the damage of World War II. Every day they would go out to make repairs and would end up coming back to the base with a load of prisoners.

“They would just surrender to us,”

Meyer said.

In June 1946, Meyer was sent back to the States and remembers being at Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois, signing his paperwork to get out of the Navy and seeing his military record almost completely blacked out due to the secrecy of his mission.

After getting out, Meyer went back to school and graduated. He took his diploma and experience of working in communications in the Navy and started working for the phone company Northwestern Bell, later AT&T. He married Lavoane in 1951 and was working around the state for a phone company.

The National WWII Museum in New Orleans states that despite their heroic contributions during the war, American Indian code talkers were told they had to keep their work secret. They couldn’t even tell their family members about their communications work.

Since the codes they developed remained unbroken, the U.S. military wanted to keep the program classified in case the code talkers were needed again in future wars. Even when the World War II code talker program

was declassified in 1968, national recognition of code talkers was slow.

Meyer said although many received permission after 1968, he was jumping around the state with the phone company and was never told his mission was declassified.

Over the years Meyer said he tried twice to get permission from the government to talk about what he did and experienced in World War II but after getting nowhere with each attempt, he decided to let it go.

In the early 2000s, while living in the Staples area, Meyer said he was able to get on a veteran flight to Washington, D.C., and while he was there he reached out for help once more to attempt to receive permission to talk about his experience in war.

“I tried to find out who I could talk to in Washington to clear me from talking about the code deal, even though it wasn’t secret anymore,” Meyer said.

Meyer said he was able to meet with someone from the government who took him to see the records and to find the messages. Looking at all the messages, Meyer said at first he couldn’t find any of the messages his team had sent out.

“Then all of a sudden, OK here I am and that’s me right there,” Meyer said.

“On the record, there I am. So OK, I got my clearance now I can talk about it?

‘Yup, now you can talk about it.’”

The Crosby-Ironton Courier also reported one of the reasons Meyer had such a problem receiving permission to speak about his time in service was because the government had declared him deceased.

Meyer had been married for over 50 years before he told his wife what he had done during the war, before he told anyone what he did during the war.

Meyer said his wife died in 2021 and she is holding a space for him at the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery in Little Falls.

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A Family

BY TIM SPEIER

Tradition Brainerd Dispatch

of Service

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Colonel Tony M. Wickman has spent the last 26 ½ years in the Air Force traveling around the world.

G

rowing up in a military family, it would not be surprising to most that Col. Tony M. Wickman has spent the last 26 1/2 years in the Air Force.

A 1992 Pillager High School graduate, Wickman was born Seoul, South Korea, while his father was stationed at U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan. Wickman said his parents met when they were both stationed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

“So my mom’s family’s from the Brainerd lakes area,” Wickman said.

“She actually grew up and lived there until she joined the Army.”

In 1973, Wickman’s mother, Wendy, was pregnant with his sister and was honorably discharged from the Army.

According to an article on the Air Force Medical Services website, being pregnant while in the military was not allowed before 1975. As a result,

pregnant women were involuntarily separated.

However, a new policy in 1975 allowed women to continue to serve while pregnant and after giving birth.

“My older sister was born right there in St. Joseph’s in Brainerd,” Wickman said.

After his sister was born, Wickman’s father was reassigned to Korea, where he was born in 1974.

They traveled around the world until moving to the Pillager area in 1988, after his father retired from the Army.

Wickman said after graduating from Pillager High School in 1992, he attended Brainerd Community College, now Central Lakes College, and then went to Minnesota State University Moorhead.

“I started out doing pictorial illustration in school and then decided I really didn’t like being an artist much,” Wickman said. “I didn’t know what to do with all my art credits so I was gonna go do advertising. I looked up the top 10 journalism schools in the U.S. and found the University of Florida.”

It was also during that time when Wickman’s mother was killed in a tragic car accident in January 1994.

“It’s like one of those personal inflection points in my life like, hey, I need a different scene,” Wickman said.

“So, I took the summer off, re-enrolled and finished up in the spring of ‘96.”

Wickman said he took the summer off after graduating from the University

Colonel Tony M. Wickman

2023 Veterans Day Salute | 13

Photo from Colonel Tony M. Wickman 26 and a half years in the Air Force.

of Florida with a Bachelor of Science degree in public relations and ended up taking a job in Houston, Texas.

After working for some time, Wickman found he was not enjoying his new career and did not have enough money to go back to school, so he started thinking of joining the military and called his dad, James, to

ask for advice.

His dad told him if he was going to join, to join the Air Force as they had a better quality of life while in the service.

“My dad was a big driving influence,” Wickman said. “He was a Vietnam vet. Did 20 years. And his dad, my grandfather, also retired from the Army.”

Wickman said his dad dropped

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out of high school a month before graduating because he wanted to join the Army. After he did a tour and a half in Vietnam, James went back home.

“Got out of the Army after Vietnam, spent three weeks at home with my grandparents, said he had enough and went right back to the Army and did 20 years,” Wickman said.

Wickman’s grandfather on his dad’s side, Paul, also spent 20 years in the Army, working in military intelligence.

During his time in the service, Wickam said they found records showing he was sent to Vietnam in 1954, where he was working as an adviser.

Wickman’s grandfather on his mother’s side, Norman Ramsdell, was drafted into the service during World War II. Wickman enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in December 1996 and entered active duty in April 1997. His first duty assignment was Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, as a military police security force.

Still wanting to continue on with his schooling, Wickman started taking online classes to complete his master’s degree before getting an assignment to South Korea, “Ironically, back to where 24 years earlier I started out, Osan Air Base.”

While stationed in South Korea, Wickman had almost completed his master’s when his commanding officer asked if he had ever considered being an officer.

Wickman graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Master of Arts degree in human relations in 2001.

Being his next duty station was Greece, Wickman decided he would wait to file his officer candidate packet.

He was selected to officer training school in April 2001.

Putting his degree to work, Wickman graduated from the Air Force’s Public

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Officer Training School Grad photo with dad and little brother.

Affairs Officer Qualification Course school in 2002 and was stationed at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

“My first duty assignment in Edwards Air Force Base, which is probably one of the neatest installations you could ever start out as a public affairs officer, but just in general if you love being around aviation, that’s where Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier,” Wickman said. “In fact, I have a great photo of me driving Chuck Yeager around in a golf cart at the 2002 Edwards Air Show. I took him around to different media engagements so I got to spend an afternoon with Chuck Yeager.”

From 2003 to 2006, Wickman was stationed in Alaska as the public affairs officer for Alaska NORAD. “I’ve had two tours through Afghanistan,” Wickman said. “My first deployment was 2009-10. I was on a PRT, Provincial Reconstruction Team, out in Kunar Province. That was a wild time.”

While on deployment, Wickman said he was sent home on emergency leave after he received word his father was terminally ill and would pass soon.

During that time in Afghanistan, Combat Outpost Keating was nearly overrun and eight Americans were killed.

Wickman’s father did not pass while he was home on leave but “literally two weeks after I came back, my father passed,” Wickman said. “So in the middle of supporting Colonel George, I got the notice case. My wife had to call me and say, ‘Hey, your dad did finally pass.’ But I’m dealing

Tony M. Wickman and Chuck Yeager at Edwards Airshow in 2002.

with the visit with Dan Rather and his team coming to talk about one of the horrible moments in Afghanistan.”

From 2016 to 2018, Wickman was the deputy commandant of the joint school for public affairs.

“I was there to help redesign the actual enlisted and officer courses to change it to be more relevant, to kind of what we would call information warfare now,” Wickman said. “So I got to help build the initial course courses for that. So that was fun because it was joint, it was Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard. We all go to the Defense Information School at Fort Meade, Maryland. So that was exciting.”

Currently, Wickman is the commander of the Air Force Public

“My first duty assignment in Edwards Air Force Base, which is probably one of the neatest installations you could ever start out as a public affairs officer, but just in general if you love being around aviation, that’s where Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier.”

- Col. Tony M. Wickman

Affairs agency located at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph in Texas.

“I’m at the Pentagon,” Wickman said.

“So my direct boss is the Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs. I’m the largest PA entity in the Air Force. I have 270 people, spread across three squadrons and a headquarters. And my job is to deliver Combat Camera and audio-visual capabilities. I don’t know if you guys saw the OSIRIS REx. The recovery of it, where they went and took samples of the asteroid and just dropped it back to Earth. My squadron from Utah actually was the one that provided all the TV support to NASA for that.”

OSIRIS-REx is the first U.S. mission to collect a sample from an asteroid. It returned to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023, to drop off material from asteroid Bennu.

With 26 ½ years in service, Wickman said he is savoring these moments more so now, because he knows he is closer to the end than the beginning.

“I’ve had unique opportunities and I’ve had some of the best experiences,” Wickman said. “You meet some of the best people in uniform. That’s the thing that I know I’ll miss when I leave.”

TIM SPEIER

may be reached at tim.speier@brainerddispatch.com or 218-855-5859 2023 Veterans Day Salute | 15

Retired Naval

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Brian Peterson’s daughter joined him during the Feb. 2009 Change of Command for the aircraft carrier the George H.W. Bush.

Contributed / Brian Peterson

J

ust over a year ago, Brian Peterson said farewell to a life journey that started 31 years ago with the U.S. Navy.

Peterson is a 1991 graduate of Pine River High School, where he first became inspired to enlist in the military.

Peterson’s family had a long history of military enlistment, especially in the Navy.

Peterson’s uncle was a Marine in Vietnam and his father flew jets as a Navy pilot.

He always knew it was an option for the future.

“I knew my parents couldn’t afford schooling for me,” Peterson said.

“I decided to apply for the Naval Academy and made it in 1991 into the class of 1995. I remembered watching the first Persian Gulf War in the library with then-Congressman Jim Oberstar, who was a representative at the time. I talked to him about joining the academy and he was supportive.”

Peterson probably would not have believed anyone who tried to tell him he’d be a sailor for more than two decades.

“At the time, I was thinking four years,” Peterson said.

He applied and was accepted to the Air Force Academy, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and the Naval

Academy. He decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a Navy pilot.

“My aspirations of becoming a pilot didn’t exactly pan out,” Peterson said.

“They found I had a heart issue, but I enjoyed my time as a surface warfare officer.”

Peterson graduated from the Naval Academy in 1995 before going on to surface warfare officer school in Newport, Rhode Island.

“I learned to drive and operate

weapon systems,” Peterson said.

“Once I did that, I went to be a communications officer on the USS Jarrett Frigate out of San Diego.”

As part of Peterson’s first tour, he worked to intercept ships leaving Sadam Hussein’s Iraq in an attempt to smuggle oil out of the country against sanctions by the United Nations.

“I was a boarding officer,” Peterson said. “We boarded Iraqi oil smugglers in the Arabian Gulf and did some operations there.”

The ship Peterson was on would receive intelligence reports about ships that had been at port at an oil terminal long enough to be loaded with the forbidden cargo. They would then receive alerts when the ships would leave those same ports in the middle of the night with engines under full power.

“Our boardings were always formulated on the intelligence we got,” Peterson said.

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rigged it with explosives. They blew classes and received a master’s out one of the compartments and it degree in Monterey, California.

In 2001, he was preparing to depart sank literally under my feet.” with the USS Bonhomme Richard. He had received his orders to deploy for about two months for training and engagement events in Australia, but he had some personal time.

But that time was cut short.

“I can remember that morning quite well,” Peterson said. “I was with my ex-wife, getting ready for work as I always did. She was pregnant with my only daughter, who is now 21. I was getting dressed and we watched the first plane fly into the World Trade Center. I watched it on TV and thought that was odd. I saw the next plane hit the tower Brian Peterson giving an interview to and I said, ‘We’re under attack.’” reporters at the decommissioning of the That moment made Peterson’s fourUSS Nashville. year contract into a career. He knew Contributed / Brian Peterson the country needed him.

After serving in the Arabian Gulf in Knowing what was coming, Peterson the late ‘90s, Peterson reported to the jumped in his truck and attempted to USS Mount Vernon out of San Diego race to the base eight miles away, but where he served as chief engineer. he found himself frozen in gridlock Around that time, Peterson attended traffic. The radio announced the plane that struck the Pentagon and the one that crashed in Pennsylvania.

“I knew at that point everything had changed,” Peterson said. “This was our Pearl Harbor. It was what we were trained for.”

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The initial plan was to deploy HONORING ALL WHO SERVED immediately, but they were instead held at port in case there were more attacks. That marked the start of Peterson’s next tour of duty.

Just before Christmas, the Bonhomme got underway and like many patriots at that time, Peterson took the fight to the Middle East.

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Peterson said sailors in his detail would board rigid inflatable boats, armed to the teeth, before boarding suspected smugglers. Oftentimes a helicopter provided support, beating wind down on the ship to keep the crew under some level of control.

Sometimes they boarded ships and found very compliant crews waiting for them, sometimes with no contraband to be found. Sometimes they would find hidden voids in the ships they boarded, full of oil.

They would delay those smugglers until the Coast Guard could arrive and arrest them. Though boarding typically was completed with little more than anger from the smugglers, it wasn’t entirely a safe position to be in.

“There were a lot of vessels in the northern Arabian Gulf,” Peterson said.

“We stared down the Iranians a few times, which was always fun. We were always being shadowed by Iranian gunboats. I guess the strangest occurrence was when we boarded a vessel and the people on board had

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18 | 2023 Veterans Day Salute

training and real world experience in combating smugglers and responding to possible Russian aggression. While he had the technical knowledge necessary to be part of the war on terror, the reality was different.

“It wasn’t like when I grew up at the academy learning to fight the Russians,” Peterson said. “We learned how to sink the entire Russian Navy and their order of battle, but we didn’t know the enemy after 9/11 because terrorism is a whole different type of operation.”

All that training assumed the existence of casualties too, but actually experiencing such loss was a different experience.

“We lost a few helicopters,” Peterson said. “We lost some Marines. In all my years, I’d maybe lost some sailors to car accidents or a suicide here or there, but I never lost a Marine or a sailor in combat. It’s sobering.”

Over three months into their operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Peterson was able to return home.

“It was like one of those YouTube moments where I came back to an airport and my ex-wife handed me my daughter and said, ‘Congratulations, you’re a father.’ That was the most remarkable thing to me,” he said.

“In the midst of all the combat operations we did and all the flights we conducted and all the operations I’d helped plan and logistics operations and sustainment operations, the most memorable moment was knowing that I became a dad while I was deployed,” he said.

Peterson said thinking of his daughter helped to make him proud of the work he was doing. He knew it was a way to bring security and stability back to the country, his ex-wife and his daughter.

From there, Peterson went to Monterey, California, for more school, and then took a position in the Pentagon in 2003.

“I decided I needed to help be a part of developing weapons systems and buying weapons systems for the Navy so sailors of the future would have additional capability going forward,” he said.

Aircraft are lined up on the USS Bonhomme Richard prior to airstrikes in Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002.

Contributed / Brian Peterson

Peterson’s days at sea were not done yet. In 2006, he was second in command on the USS Nashville participating in counter-piracy

operations off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.

The ship ran up and down the east coast of Africa combating piracy

2023 Veterans Day Salute | 19

Brian Peterson and the Chief of Naval Operations (ADM Richardson) in 2017.

Contributed / Brian Peterson

operations with their very presence.

“Just the fact we were there conducting operations showing the U.S. flag on a big amphibious ship was very intimidating for a lot of the pirates,” Peterson. “I remember pulling into Kenya and having the locals greet us and tell us how thankful they were because we were out there.

“Having a big U.S. Navy ship out there helped thwart a lot of pirates and the operations occurring in that area,” he said. “The fact we were there was a huge deterrent.”

The ship sometimes attempted to look like a merchant ship with the hope of baiting the small Somali pirate boats, though they usually wised up before they got very close to the well armed USS Nashville.

They did, however, help to transport pirates under arrest at one point.

The operations to follow were humanitarian in nature.

20 | 2023 Veterans Day Salute

“We were chosen to do something called the ‘African Partnership Station,’ where we took our ship and went to a couple of African countries on the west coast of Africa and conducted training operations with those West African nations and their armed forces.”

From left to right are a Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC), the USS PEARL HARBOR (LSD 52); USS BONHOMME RICHARD (LHD 6); the USS OGDEN (LPD 9) and another LCAC on the far right proceeding to Afghanistan.

Contributed / Brian Peterson

In addition to training African navies, they helped build schools, drill wells and more. In 2009, Peterson returned to the Pentagon to serve the joint staff chairman and the joint chiefs of staff.

“I never really left the Pentagon after that,” he said.

Peterson worked in a logistics and special capabilities position at the Pentagon. While there, he had one last national threat to face.

“We were tasked to come up with different ideas on how to support the coronavirus response,” Peterson said.

“One of the ships I was responsible for with the office of the Secretary of Defense was the USNS Mercury and USNS Comfort, two hospital ships.

We were able to get them ready and deploy them to New York to support the coronavirus outbreak.”

The pandemic was possibly the threat Peterson had the least training to prepare for.

“You go from being a combat centric force with the Navy to an outbreak of a pandemic here in the United States,” Peterson said. “We were helping our own people at this point, so it became a really unique detail and not something you were trained for. You can’t train for it.”

Like Africa, the presence of the Navy provided comfort to the people of New York and the United States.

“Whenever the armed forces shows up, things tend to calm down a bit,” Peterson said. “They know we’re there and we’re there to help.”

Just the presence of a ship with a giant red cross on its side helped provide a sense of comfort to the people of New York, he said.

Coincidentally, Peterson’s four-year enlistment began a career when he saw the fear and panic in New York in 2001, and now, 22 years later, his career started to wind down shortly after providing comfort to that same city.

“It was satisfying knowing we could do something to help comfort them in that suffering,” Peterson said. “When we deployed for 9/11 we didn’t know who the enemy was, but we knew what we had to do. With the pandemic and coronavirus, it was another event where we didn’t understand what the enemy was, but we knew we had to do something.”

Peterson’s career came at its own costs. He and his wife divorced; and when she was 12, his daughter was diagnosed with cancer.

“I went from learning to fight the Russians to learning to fight terrorists

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to learning to fight cancer, learning to fight a pandemic and all in 27 years,” Peterson said. “When you join the military, the only thing you join for is to fight the fight in front of you, but nobody tells you what the battle is going to be.”

Brian Peterson at graduation day from the Naval Academy in May of 1995.

Contributed / Brian Peterson

On top of that, in 2011 he was diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm, commonly known as a widowmaker.

Peterson prioritized his work with the Navy over the surgery necessary to fix the time bomb in his chest.

He stayed with the Navy until September 2022, and in 2023 finally had the surgery to fix it.

“I knew how bad it was, but I didn’t want to walk away from my career

Thank You vice for Your Ser

in the midst of everything that was happening in the world at that time,” Peterson said.

Now, finally retired from the Navy and a Minnesotan at heart, Peterson spends as much time on the water as possible, though he does so in Virginia. He also restores motorcycles in his free time and spends as much time as he can with his daughter, who is attending college.

Peterson now works with a program support organization, which supports the Navy’s work building amphibious ships.The program provides their expertise to help improve the construction of ships for the US Navy.

Even after retiring, Peterson knew he wanted to continue to support his country in some way. After all, he’ll always be a veteran.

“I’m a veteran,” Peterson said. “I’ve never been more proud of the fact that I served my country and I can say that I did it in some very formative years of our country’s existence. I’ve seen some terrible things, but at the same time I’ve been part of some great successes.”

TRAVIS GRIMLER

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SALUTE OUR VETERANS

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MERYL ALTERS ARMY 1950-1953; KOREAN WAR DECEASED 6/15/1997

ROD WILCOX AIR FORCE 1964

BRANDON STAFFORD NATIONAL GUARD 2009-PRESENT

JIM STAFFORD NAVY 1984-1988

ROBERT G. HURST 1951-1954; KOREAN WAR

DUANE BLANCK MARINE CORPS 1960-1963

ELIJAH BLANCK COAST GUARD 2022 - PRESENT

HOWARD “JIGGS” BLANCK ARMY 1956-1958 DECEASED 2009

GERALD KIEHLBAUCH ARMY 1953-1955 DECEASED

KEVIN KIEHLBAUCH ARMY 1976-1982

PRESTON CARLSON ARMY 2018-2023

HERBERT ZANKE ARMED FORCES 1950-1956 DECEASED 1979

ALEX EBERTOWSKI AIR FORCE WWII DECEASED 1/2/2017

F.G. “RICK” RICHARDSON NAVY & AIR FORCE 1947-1950, 1951-1961 DECEASED 7/3/2021

E. JOHN RABOIN AIR FORCE 1953-1983

Jeff & Tracy Swenson, owner/operators of CHEM DRY OF THE LAKES say

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GILBERT BITTNER MARINES KOREAN WAR DECEASED 12/28/2014

CHRISTOPHER KRAUS NAVY & ARMY 1992-PRESENT

RICHARD L. KRAUS ARMY 1969-1990

RAYMOND J. GEISLINGER ARMY WWII DECEASED 5/30/2012

CLARENCE L. KRAUS ARMY WWII DECEASED 5/5/1996

EUGENE R. WORMS NAVY 1964-1969

HAROLD CARLSON NATIONAL GUARD 2020-PRESENT

LEONARD W. BADE NAVY 1944-1946; WWII DECEASED

BRIAN BADE NAVY 1969-1973

ART SCHUSTER ARMY WWII

BILL SCHUSTER MARINES WWII

DERALD E. WATSON AIR FORCE 1946-1950

DUANE HOEFS ARMY 1970-1972

GERALD HOEFS ARMY WWII DECEASED 11/12/2011

KENNETH SCHUSTER ARMY WWII

RAY SCHUSTER ARMY WWII

GILBERT L. LOWE AIR FORCE WWII DECEASED 12/25/1983

MICHAEL LOWE AIR FORCE 1970-1974; VIETNAM

LAVERN “SKIP” LOWE ARMY 1965-1986; VIETNAM

DANIEL L LOWE SR. ARMY 1970-2008; VIETNAM & AFGHANISTAN DECEASED 9/1/2019

24 | 2023 Veterans Day Salute

RAY LEETCH NATIONAL GUARD 1963-1969

WARREN (WALLIE) BARRETT NAVY 1959-1963 DECEASED 11/14/2021

HENRY F. WULF NAVY 1958-1962 DECEASED 3/30/2023

DAN LONG AIR FORCE 1952-1972; KOREAN WAR; VIETNAM DECEASED

BRUCE LAPKA NAVY 1968-1972; VIETNAM

DOUG LUNDQUIST NAVY 1964-1970

KEVIN L. HOULE NAVY 1972-1997; VIETNAM; GULF WAR

EUGENE HOULE NAVY 1965-1968

MARLO A. ROY COAST GUARD 2002-PRESENT

WESTON BRENT HOULE NAVY 2003-2009

MICHAEL E. BOLZ NAVY 1957-1961

ROBERT A. ROY NAVY 1966-1970

BOB MCNERNEY NAVY 1962-1966

JONATHAN W. SPITZ MARINES 2021-PRESENT

ALVIN L. HOULE ARMY 1957-1959 DECEASED

RICHARD CAMERON SR. ARMY AIR CORP WWII DECEASED 3/12/2003

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GORDON SCHULKE NAVY WWII

MONROE (PETE) HEANEY ARMY 1955-1958 DECEASED 8/31/23

ROBERT PERRY COOK ARMY AIR CORPS WWII

BYRON HARRY SQUIRES ARMY 1917-1919; WWI DECEASED 1959

JAMES ROBERT SQUIRES NAVY 1942-1945; WWII DECEASED 1987

ARTHUR BROOKS HOSKINS ARMY 1912-1919; WWI DECEASED 1979

ROBERT KLEINSCHMIDT AIR FORCE 1965-1969

DUANE SMART NAVY 1968-1971 DECEASED

LOREN EDWARD SMART MARINES 1969; VIETNAM DECEASED 7/15/2012

BEN MONSON ARMY 1942-1945

CARL MONSON ARMY 1943-1946, 1948-1952

DALE MONSON NAVY 1944-1946; WWII DECEASED 11/2020

JAMES SIPPER MARINES 2011-2014; IRAQ

MERLE MONSON ARMY 1942-1945

OLE MONSON NAVY 1944-1945

CHARLES R. HODGSON JR. ARMY 1950-1952

CHUCK HOLST NATIONAL GUARD 1953-1986

ELIJAH HANSON AIR FORCE 2022-PRESENT

DARRELL E. POWERS NAVY WWII DECEASED 1997

DARRELL POWERS ARMY 2023-PRESENT

26 | 2023 Veterans Day Salute

RICHARD L. HAYES ARMY/ARNG 1953-1988 DECEASED 9/14/1993

CHRISTOPHER GROENWOLD MARINES 2003-2007; IRAQ

ROBERT T. BREITLING ARMY 1966-1992; OPERATION DESERT STORM DECEASED 7/26/2023

GARY DOSHAN ARMY 1968-1970 DECEASED 8/29/2023

VICTOR GUERRA AIR FORCE KOREA DECEASED 2/6/1981

ORLANDO GUERRA AIR FORCE DECEASED 3/20/1996

DAVID TREES AIR FORCE 1965-1969

DARWIN TREES ARMY/NATIONAL GUARD 1960-1986 DECEASED 1986

MATHIAS (MICK) JUSTIN ARMY AIRBORNE 1966-1969; VIETNAM

WAYNE R. BAILEY NAVY 1998-2021

GREG TOMBERLIN ARMY 1969-1971

KEN MICKO AIR CORP 1942-1945 DECEASED 2/17/2023

CORY WILLIAMS AIR FORCE 2015-2019

DON JOHNSON NAVY WWII DECEASED 3/21/2017

DANNY PRICE MARINES 1973-1977

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JASON PRICE MARINES & ARMY GUARDS 1997-2003, 2003-2005

We Support our Service Men & Women — Thank you for our Freedom — First drink free for Veterans and anyone who becomes a member of our Post on that day.

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DENNIS G. HAVEL ARMY 1967-1968; VIETNAM

EUGENE MUNSON NAVY WWII DECEASED

GUNNARD FREDEN NAVY WWII DECEASED

JACKSON KNAPP MARINES 2016-2021

JEFF KNAPP MARINES 2008-2012; AFGANISTAN

JOELLE KNAPP MARINES 2018-2022

JOHN E MUNSON ARMY WWI DECEASED

MILTON MUNSON NAVY 1942-1945; WWII DECEASED 6/1/1977

OSCAR MARSCH ARMY WWI DECEASED

AVERY DERKSEN ARMY WWII, KOREA DECEASED 4/14/2020

ARNOLD DERKSEN ARMY CAVALRY WWI DECEASED 1965

RICHARD SMITH MARINES 1969-1971

DOUGLAS STENBERG ARMY 1975-1995

LARRY D. HESTER AIR FORCE 1962-1979 DECEASED 4/13/2014

LINDA L. PETERSON HESTER AIR FORCE 1962-1966

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ROBERT J. MENTH ARMY & RESERVES 1975-1977; 1977-1982

DON WALKER ARMY 1959-1961

LAWRENCE E. “LARRY” LAUGHLIN ARMY WWII DECEASED

LEO V. WHALEN ARMY WWII DECEASED

DONALD MCFARLAND ARMY VIETMAM

STEVEN M. WHALEN NAVY

BRIAN J. WHALEN AIR FORCE DESERT STORM

JOHN P. AKOTCHIK AIR FORCE 1950-1972 KOREA; VIETNAM; DECEASED 2/23/09

NICHOLAS D. CONDIFF AIR FORCE 2014-2020

RICK FARGO ARMY 1970-1973

VERNON FARGO ARMY 1943-1946 DECEASED 1/5/2019

RICHARD BUNKER MARINES 1962-1966

WALTER F. HERMERDING AIR FORCE DECEASED 5/11/2020

DONALD WERMTER MARINES 1965-1969

ROBERT PILLSBURY AIR FORCE

JEFFERY A. MCCARTHY ARMY 1973-1976

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A very heartfelt thank you to our veterans and their families.

From the staff at Martin’s Sport Shop in Nisswa.

OPEN 6 DAYS A WEEK 218-963-2341 martins@nisswa.net

Hours: Monday-Friday 9am-5:30pm; Saturday 9am-5pm

2023 Veterans Day Salute | 29

BRIAN T. REESE AIR FORCE 2003-2016

RICHARD REZANKA ARMY 1917-1919; WWI DECEASED 8/2/1990

RICHARD B. REZANKA AIR FORCE 1943-1945; WWII DECEASED 3/23/1992

ROBERT J. CLARK AIR FORCE 1943-1945; WWII DECEASED 8/11/2018

HOWARD DELK AIR FORCE 1946-1949

CHIP BORLE ARMY IRAQ 2002

DAVE MEYER ARMY 1968-1969; VIETNAM

MICHAEL WILLIAMS NAVY 1972-1973; VIETNAM

MARK PERSONS ARMY 1968-1969; VIETNAM

JEFF MCARTHUR ARMY 1991 IRAQ

Honoring all who served.

Thank you 2 locations:

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JACK RUTTGER ARMY 1953-1955

u o Y k n Tha Service! r u o Y r Fo 13587 Trails End Ln, Brainerd, MN 56401 (218) 828-0181 hwy18collision.com

KEVIN JENSEN ARNG KUWAIT; IRAQ

PAT WING ARMY KOREA 1975

SCOTT HALL AIR FORCE 2004-2005 AFGHANISTAN

EUSEBIA RIOS AIR FORCE 1986-2019

DALE RAY THIESEN NAVY 1983-1987

JOE ANDERSON ARMY 2012-2014 KOREA

STEVE ROSENOW ARMY 1969-1970; VIETNAM

CIARA MITCHELL MARINES 2015-2020

DON RASMUSSEN ARMY 1966-1969

DUANE BERKNER AIR FORCE 1959-1963

THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Our Thanks to All Who Have Served!

Bring your favorite vet to one of our events to show your appreciation, and we’ll present a special gift to them!

Go to LandsburgNursery.com for a list of events.

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16460 Hwy 371 N. Brainerd LandsburgNursery.com Hours Mon-Fri 9-5:30; Sat 9-4; CLOSED SUNDAY 2023 Veterans Day Salute | 31

WALTER M TODY ARMY 1953-1955 DECEASED 1/3/2023

HAROLD SKOV MARINES DECEASED 3/2/1945

MITCHEL JOHNSON AIR FORCE 1953-1955; KOREA

WILLIAM SKEESICK ARMY WORLD WAR II DECEASED 11/29/2002

SCHUYLER VOLKMUTH NAVY

ELIJAH THELL AIR FORCE

JEROME FRANCIS VOLKMUTH ARMY DECEASED 11/16/2014

RYAN ROJESKI NAVY 2018-PRESENT

TIMOTHY VOLKMUTH NAVY; USNR 1969-2007

CAROL VOLKMUTH NAVY

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32 | 2023 Veterans Day Salute

KENNETH ERICKSON NAVY DECEASED 11/1/1976

GORDON C AMUNDSON ARMY 1965-1969 DECEASED 7/12/2021

DANIEL KITZEROW AIR FORCE 2015-PRESENT

DAVE BEIREIS NAVY VIETNAM

JACK NORDLING MARINES WWII; KOREA; 21 YEARS OF SERVICE DECEASED 2002

JESSICA (NORDLING) BEIREIS MARINES 1965-1975; VIETNAM DECEASED 4/30/2013

MATT HAUGE ARMY 2016-PRESENT

ANGIE KITZEROW AIR FORCE 2017-PRESENT

DALE BEIREIS ARMY VIETNAM

JOSEPH M WILTSEY AIR FORCE VIETNAM DECEASED 11/28/21

2023 Veterans Day Salute | 33

Honoring All Who Served

HAPPY VETERANS DAY

EDWARD A. YURICK ARMY

SANDY STROM-GIESEKE AIR FORCE/AIR FORCE RESERVES 1967-1970; 1973-1994

CHARLES R. JOHNSON ARMY 1952-1954 DECEASED 6/24/2010

RICHARD MENTOR JOHNSON ARMY 1918-1921; WWI DECEASED 6/25/1939

MARTIN (TED) TORKELSON ARMY WWII DECEASED 8/23/1998

TONY WENZEL ARMY/USAR/ARNG

NOVEMBER 11 THANK YOU TO ALL OUR VETERAN’S FOR THEIR SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY AND OUR PEOPLE.

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34 | 2023 Veterans Day Salute

ALVIN NELSON ARMY WWII DECEASED 10/2006

NORMAN A. ANDERSON ARMY KOREAN WAR DECEASED 5/2022

RICHARD H. ANDERSON MARINES 1959-1964 DECEASED 2/1/2020

JOHN D. BURTON NAVY 1966-1970; VIETNAM

DAVID L SLIPP ARMY 1974-1995

EDGAR L. SLIPP ARMY 1953-1955; KOREA DECEASED 9/7/1982

ARTHUR J. TURNER MARINES 1967; VIETNAM DECEASED 2/27/1967

BERNARD (BERNIE) HOLSAPPLE NAVY 1968-1977 DECEASED 12/28/2019

KEVIN MATTHEWS AIR FORCE 2005-PRESENT

MELISSA MATTHEWS AIR FORCE 2006-PRESENT

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GARY PETERSON ARMY

JIM SCHILLER AIR FORCE DECEASED 6/1974

BOB SCHILLER AIR FORCE

BILL SCHILLER, III AIR FORCE

LANCE SCHMIDT MARINES

SHANNON SCHMIDT MARINES

JACK SCHMIDT MARINES

BRAD TAYLOR NAVY

BOBBI TAYLOR NAVY

PETE WILLIAMS MARINES

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Thank you for your service!

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DON VANVORST ARMY

CURTIS OLDSTAD NAVY

RYLAND GAGNON ARMY 2000-PRESENT

LARRY KOSTKA ARMY

WAYNE PRYOR AIR FORCE

BILL DOBSON ARMY

LEO ELYEA AIR FORCE DECEASED 2022

WALLEY ETZEL ARMY

PENNY JOHNSON ARMY

ROBERT SPICER SR ARMY

Thank you for your service!

The individuals are L to R: Matt Sundquist (Army Reserve) Paul Warmuth (National Guard) Arnie Jensen (Marines) Mike Moore (Air Force) Doug Anderson (Navy) Rich Lenk (Air Force) Jennifer Grimm (Air Force & National Guard) Dan Imberi (Army) Joe Sharp (Army) Kyle Schwietz (Navy) Dylan Gilster (Air Force) James Hoyt (National Guard) Bob Endrizzi (Army) 2023 Veterans Day Salute | 37

GARY DAWSON ARMY 1966-1969 DECEASED 2022

HAROLD PLIESEIS ARMY

DAN WALBERG ARMY

ROBERT JOHNSTON NAVY

GARY SCHMEISING NAVY 1965-1968 DECEASED 2023

TIM ANDERSON MARINES

HERMAN KADING 1972-1976

GENE GAGNON COAST GUARD

ROGER OSTBERG NAVY

WAYNE WOLF MARINES DECEASED 2010

We want to Thank Our Veterans

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38 | 2023 Veterans Day Salute

COMMANDER: Open Daily at 11am 1 Block West of Breezy Point Gate 218-562-4198

&

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KARL FLIER NAVY

MIKE BONNISTER NATIONAL GUARD/ ARMY RESERVES DECEASED

HARLEY KAISER MERCHANT MARINES/ARMY

CHARLES SCHMEISING NAVY

REYNOLD FORSETH NAVY

JERRY THOMPSON ARMY

ROB SYKES ARMY

BILL TAYLOR ARMY

LEROY SCHUELKE ARMY

FRED KELLER NAVY

218-568-8353

Serving free pancakes & eggs breakfast to all our military service men & women.

7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Veterans Day.

Today and every day, we are grateful for those who served.

2023 Veterans Day Salute | 39

ARTHUR VAN HORN NAVY 1965-1969 DECEASED

JIM TORVINEN NAVY

EUGENE TORVINEN NAVY DECEASED 7/20/1993

EDWARD TORVINEN NAVY DECEASED 10/8/1992

JACK HARRISON VAN HORN NAVY 1965-1969 DECEASED

JAMES WARREN VAN HORN NAVY DECEASED

JOSH VAN HORN NAVY

DEVERN VAN HORN ARMY 1988-1992

TIM VAN HORN AIR FORCE 1988-2012

EARL VAN HORN ARMY 1971-1973

40 YEARS

OF CARING

40 | 2023 Veterans Day Salute

DALE VAN HORN, SR. NAVY 1965-1969

DALE VAN HORN, JR. NAVY & ARMY

BARNEY LODIN NAVY

GLEN VANHAVERMOT NATIONAL GUARD

MICHAEL J. ZAUHAR, III ARMY DECEASED 9/26/2000

HUBERT H. LANDREE ARMY DECEASED 11/19/1993

GARY NIEMAND ARMY 1965-1967; VIETNAM

PETER GAGNON ARMY

RAY GAGNON COAST GUARD

RAYMOND CLAUDE WHEELER ARMY 1969-1970; VIETNAM DECEASED 1/18/2023

ROGER JOHN KYAR AIR FORCE 1964-1965 DECEASED 2007

Thank you Veterans!

506 Laurel St., Brainerd

829-0946

RAYMOND W. KYAR ARMY 1917-1928 DECEASED 1976

S.T. Monda, O.D. J.J. Hanske, O.D. A.M. Archibald-Swanson, O.D. T.J. Swanson, O.D. M.K. Monda, O.D. 2023 Veterans Day Salute | 41

Today we pause to honor the brave men and women who have made great sacrifice to protect our families, our country, and our freedom.

“Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in

of WORKMANSHIP through PRECISION MANUFACTURING

the service of our

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country can never

be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. America OVER

will never forget their sacrifices.”

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- Harry Truman

of WORKMANSHIP through PRECISION MANUFACTURING

Thank You Veterans!

FIND THE PLOW THAT FITS YOUR VEHICLE We are your local Western Plow dealer

WWW.SHANNONSAUTOBODY.COM CONTACT US: 13540 IRONWOOD DRIVE, BRAINERD, MN 56401 • 218-829-6764 HOURS: MONDAY-FRIDAY 8AM-5PM

2023 Veterans Day Salute | 43

JIBEC Heating and Cooling would like to

thank all Veterans for their service and sacrifice. We honor you today, and every day, and are forever grateful!

www.jibechvac.com 12847 Alfalfa Lane SW, Pillager, MN 56473 • 218-828-0330

44 | 2023 Veterans Day Salute