VETERAN OF THE YEAR CELEBRATING TOM WHILDEN – by Kiersten Gunsberg – Photos by Karen S Lueck at amomentcaptured.net
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ifty years back and two and a half hours south of Northern Michigan, Tom Whilden was about to graduate from high school in Caledonia, a small town thirty miles in from Lake Michigan. He’d spent the past few years putting in busy hours on a dairy farm after school but there wasn’t any part of Tom looking to take a break after being handed his diploma Less than a year after graduating in 1970, Tom enlisted during the Vietnam War and set off to San Antonio, Texas for basic training at Lackland Air Force Base. While Michiganders back home were turning up their thermostats, Tom was perfecting military corners and wiping the sweat from his brow as he pushed his physical limits in the stifling southern heat. After basic training, Tom found himself closer to his old, chillier stomping grounds when he was stationed at Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda where he served stateside as a medic until his honorable discharge on February 21st, 1975 Though the war ended later that year, Tom’s zeal to serve did not. With four years of medical training
under his belt, he was accepted to Blodgett School of Nursing in Grand Rapids. It takes both grit and selflessness to be a nurse, to bring comfort to the injured and ill while also tending to their immediate needs, attributes that were well refined by his years in the military. By 1978 Tom had completed his program at Blodgett and graduated as a registered nurse, the first male at the school to do so, and was on his way to Traverse City to start his career in nursing at Munson Medical Center. There, he specialized in cardiac care, later adding emergency room nurse and North Flight crew member to his repertoire before his retirement thirty-five years later in 2013. He’s enjoying downtime with his wife of over 45 years, Deb, their two children and their four grandchildren. However, as those close to him will tell you, Tom’s love for his country and those who sacrifice for it continues to compel him, even into retirement. He’s focused his energy into supporting local veterans and veteran affairs through his work with Patriot Guard Riders, a volunteer based organization of veterans who, among other acts of honor, unite to hold American
GATHER Veterans – 10
