Veterans Salute - Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post

THANK

YOU,

FROM A GRATEFUL NATION

To those who fought from Europe, to the Pacific, to Vietnam, to the Middle East and beyond, we say, “Thank you for the many blessings we are allowed because of your service and sacrifice.”

Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post • Commemorative Section • Veterans Day 2014 WWII veteran Milton Pehl

“ PACIFIC WAR MUSEUM

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You realize what certain events cost.

It has you leaving the museum with a great sense of what the actual toll was on America.” — Brandon Vinyard

By Richard Zowie

A

merica has many museums and memorials that honor the service of World War II veterans, particularly the war in the Pacific.

A California museum honors U.S. Merchant Marine veterans.

In Washington, D.C., it is the World War II Memorial.

In Guam, visitors can tour the War in the Pacific National Historical Park.

Hawaii, the site of the attack on Pearl Harbor, has several memorials, including those for the Battleships Missouri and Arizona.

Fredericksburg is home to the National Museum of the Pacific War. The museum, at 340 East Main Street, is on six acres and includes the George Bush Gallery, Admiral Nimitz Museum, Pacific Combat Zone, Plaza of Presidents, Memorial Courtyard, Japanese Garden of Peace, and, soon to open, Nimitz Education and Research Center.

On its website, the museum is described as a “dynamic, worldclass experience” and the only museum dedicated exclusively to the Pacific theater battles in WWII.

…”

Among its many exhibits and artifacts are items that teach about the Pacific battles during World War II and what was required of Americans to secure victory.

They include letters, photographs, uniforms, weapons and even a miniature Japanese submarine.

Some exhibits are permanent, and others are temporary, as the museum will feature a collection of items that will tell a particular story.

One might be a collection of paintings, another might be a collection of letters and another might even be a collection of vintage artifacts.

Why veterans like the museum Brandon Vinyard, director of marketing and public relations at National Museum of the Pacific War and the Admiral Nimitz Foundation, said of the many veterans who visit the museum, what they like depends on when and where they served.

“Everyone enjoys seeing the Japanese midget sub,” Vinyard said. “I think for every veteran, there’s a piece of our museum that will be more personal to them.”

The museum covers areas pertaining to U.S. military service in the Pacific during Veterans Day Memorial World War II. “We cover so The National Museum of the much that it’s really Pacific War will host a Veterans hard to say that all Day ceremony at 11 a.m., Tuesour veterans like day, Nov. 11 in the Memorial that area,” Vinyard.

Courtyard at the museum.

“We cover a lot of Maj. Gen. Angela Salinas things on the war in (USMC, ret.), a board member of the Pacific.” the Admiral Nimitz Foundation, Another area will be the keynote speaker. that’s a big draw to veterans is The program will feature a threethe Memorial gun volley and the playing of Courtyard.

It “Taps” in addition to Salinas’ features plaques speech. and other things The event is free to the public. dedicated to veterans of all branches who Mark Yost of the “Wall served in the Pacific war.

Street Journal” wrote: “…

It includes those who returned this is perhaps the most and those who gave their comprehensive, well-organized lives. The plaques are on 19th and informative military century limestone walls. museum I’ve ever seen. A Vinyard’s favorite place to museum of this quality — and visit is the Victory Gallery. It importance — needs to be seen features videos of the Japanese

Brandon Vinyard surrender and includes both a photo and video montage of the triumphs and losses during the Pacific war.

“It does a great job of going back and forth and gets you really excited and takes you back and say, ‘Oh, wow!’” he said. “You realize what certain events cost. It has you leaving the museum with a great sense of what the actual toll was on America.”

WWII veterans who attend annually There is no charge for World War II veterans to visit the museum.

In 2013, the count was 881 veterans. As of mid-October, this year, 463 had visited.

Digital document uploads With the constant change of technology, it’s now possible to indefinitely preserve documents and photographs that normally would succumb to age. The museum is scanning various documents to preserve them and make them readily available to anyone with an Internet connection anywhere in the world.

In early October, the museum launched the new online archive.

“When the documents fade and the paper or ink become

too fragile, we’ll have a document that people can see,” Vinyard said.

The digital scans are backed up on large servers.

“It was part of our mission to become a leading expert in everything in WWII in the Pacific,” he said. “We knew not everybody can have easy access by traveling to Fredericksburg. We wanted to make our collection of oral history and images and documents readily accessible to, for example, a college student in New Hampshire who’s doing a research paper on Nimitz or something in the Pacific.”

The solution is to provide “easy access” by posting the items online and allowing users to use a search criteria to find what they’re looking for.

Currently in the digital archive is the World War II Veterans Oral History Collection with over 600 oral histories, along with the World War II Photograph Collection with over 1,900 photos by Norm Hatch, Marine combat photographer.

As of October, another collection being installed was the Chester W. Nimitz Personal Letters, 1893-1911.

This consists of 135 personal

letters Nimitz wrote to his father, mother and grandfather, covering his early childhood, his years at the U.S. Naval Academy and the first years of his career while on Asia Station with the Asiatic Fleet.

The letters cover the admiral’s academic progress and his standing in his class at the academy.

Vinyard added that the museum launched the online document program in early October.

Upcoming exhibits, additions Among the temporary exhibits on the horizon include a Bob Hope Exhibit in June 2015.

This will tie into the museum’s golf tournament.

The exhibit will cover the life of the British-born American comedian, who for many years led United Service Organizations (USO) tours to entertain overseas service members.

In October 2015, the museum will also feature a military art exhibit by Tom Lee. The museum hopes to break ground in January for major renovations to the Pacific Combat Zone.

That time is tentative and subject to change. Fundraising continues on the project.

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“ GEN. MICHAEL HAGEE Watching them overcome obstacles and take care of one another and serve their countries are experiences I’ll always remember.” — General Michael Hagee

By Richard Zowie

leaders from American allies regarding “degrading and defeating” the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). This Islamic extremist group, once part of al-Qaida, has publicly beheaded its enemies, including those who refuse to convert to Islam.

“Words matter,” Hagee said. “I don’t know what our strategy is, and it concerns me. In my professional opinion, you cannot defeat them without ‘boots on the ground.’”

That term refers to using the presence of military troops in an area to help bring order and success.

The general said he completely understands Obama’s reluctance to engage the enemy without having a sense of what America wants the territory to look like afterwards.

“I don’t think we can be successful, if defeating them is what we actually want to do, without the U.S. leading with boots on the ground,” Hagee added. “I would have hoped the national security team would’ve come to a conclusion much earlier than now. I think they’re still struggling with that.”

Other important factors to consider, Hagee said, include what America’s actions will do to the relationships with other countries in that area.

B

eing the son of a Navy chief who served in both the Pacific and Atlantic during World War II, Gen. Michael Hagee heard a lot about the military as he grew up.

“My dad loved to tell a lot of stories about his service in the Navy,” recalled Hagee, who graduated from Fredericksburg High School in 1963 and later retired after serving as the 33rd commandant of the United States Marine Corps. “He enjoyed ranching, too. I always honored his military service and thought a great deal about it when it was time to go to school, so I thought I’d give it a shot.”

Originally, Hagee planned to follow in his footsteps and join the Navy. But, he changed his mind and chose to enter the Marines. He received his commission in the Marines after graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1968.

Now, after a distinguished career, he’s the president and CEO of the Admiral Nimitz Foundation.

Favorite military memory In a career that spanned from 19682007 and included service in Vietnam and the 1991 Persian Gulf War, there was one particular experience the general enjoyed the most.

“Regardless of where I served, my best experiences were working with the men and women we had in the Marine Corps and other services,” Hagee said.

“We asked them to do really quite some amazing things, and they responded unbelievably. Watching them overcome obstacles and take care of one another and serve their countries are experiences I’ll always remember.”

Respect returns When Vietnam veterans returned home from their service, some “greeted” the veterans by calling them derogatory names and throwing eggs or tomatoes at them.

“Military service wasn’t respected,” Hagee said.

For that reason, he and other service members weren’t allowed to wear their uniforms when they returned.

For a long time, military service members weren’t allowed to wear their uniforms while in public unless it was a special function. Uniforms usually weren’t worn while on liberty.

Eventually, that rule was changed by President Ronald Reagan, who took office in 1981.

Times have certainly changed, the general has observed. Reverence has replaced the disrespect the public had for military personnel. For some

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Gen. Michael Hagee military personnel, it’s not unusual to eat at a restaurant and for a complete stranger to pay for their meal.

“Today, when people in airports see young men and women in uniform, they often will come up to them and thank them for their service,” Hagee said.

“There have been stories of individuals who will give up their first-class seats for a young service member. I think that’s spectacular.”

Veterans Day memories When Hagee and his wife, Silke, lived in Washington, D.C., they would attend Veterans Day ceremonies and watch the president lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

“It was always quite moving to participate in that,” Hagee said.

For the general, the same rings true for the Veterans Day ceremonies at the National Museum of the Pacific War’s Memorial Courtyard.

If there’s one group of veterans to whom Hagee likes to pay respect, it’s those who, like his father, served in WWII. Journalist Tom Brokaw referred to them as “The Greatest Generation.”

“I admire that generation a lot,” Hagee

said. “Not only did they win WWII, but when America entered the war, it wasn’t a given we’d win. There were quite a few people who didn’t think we would, be we did.”

America did so, Hagee added, despite facing “significant odds” both in the European and Pacific theaters.

“And then, what is almost as impressive to me is when they came back to this country, they built this country and the great economy we have,” he said. “I also admire the individuals who have served in other conflicts, even when the American people didn’t necessarily support them. These young men and women raised their hands, still went out and served and did the very best job they could do.”

One classic example, the general said, are the Vietnam veterans.

“Boots on the ground” Currently, America and other nations are trying to bring stability to the Middle East in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hagee recalled a report of a midOctober meeting President Barack Obama had with senior military

U.S. troop reductions In military publications such as The Army Times, there have been reports of troop reductions and early retirements.

It’s a trend that concerns Hagee.

“It’s really quite amazing to me,” he said. “Over the past six years, I would argue that we have disengaged from the world — not only militarily, but economically and politically and, in some cases, diplomatically. That’s exactly the time that the world seems to be getting crazier, whether you’re talking about what’s happening in the Middle East, Ukraine or Hong Kong.”

Hagee believes many places in the world are in dire need for leadership, and that they’re looking for America to step in and lead.

“I understand there are things to do here back in the United States, and that our national leadership has to balance those requirements,” he said. “But, we are in an inter-connected world today, and what happens in some of these regions impacts us. It’s not necessarily an existential threat, but it impacts us, at the very least, economically. We seem to be absent. And if there’s an absence in leadership, we may not be happy with the leadership that steps in and takes us in whatever direction they want to go.”

Hagee’s hope is for the president’s national security team to develop and articulate a true vision.

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Back row: Lee Roy Woerner, Army Air Corp WWII; Bill Nelson, Marine, WWII & Korea; Marcus Vidrine, Navy WWII; Bill Slivka, Air Force Vietnam; Marvin Prochnow, Career, Army Air Corp WWII, Air Force Korea & Vietnam; Ryland Mazur, WWII Pacific. Front row: Billie Sweat, Navy; Fred Mesch, WWII & Korea. Not pictured: Milburn Reid, Marine WWII; Norma Taylor, Navy WWII; Wally Walker, Army Korea & Vietnam.

We Salute Our Veterans That Call Heritage Place Their Home!

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“ BATTLE OF THE BULGE 4

In one year, I went from being a punk to a man and just tried to absorb everything being said, told, and how to do it.” — Leonard “Bud” Edwards

By Richard Zowie Following the Allies’ successful D-Day invasion of Normandy, France in June 1944 during World War II, the Germans launched a counteroffensive as winter settled in. Their attack, perhaps, came with the realization that the end was inevitable.

The battle of the Allies versus the Germans (which included more than 200,000 German troops and almost 1,000 tanks) lasted from Dec. 16, 1944 to Jan. 25, 1945 — the Battle of the Bulge.

It took place in the western front of the European theater in the Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium and also in France and Luxembourg.

The United States Army Center of Military History website describes the battle this way: “The courage and fortitude of the American soldier was tested against great adversity.

Nevertheless, the quality of his response ultimately meant the victory of freedom over tyranny.”

Among the American military units that participated in the Battle of the Bulge were the 101st Airborne Division, the Third Army and the 2nd Armored Division.

The Americans and their allies were successful, setting the stage for Germany’s surrender and the end of WWII in Europe.

Three of the many men who fought in the Battle of the Bulge live in Gillespie County.

M

arvin Prochnow has a small black log book where he kept track of what missions he flew in as a B-17 Flying Fortress co-pilot during the Battle of the Bulge.

Most of their flights were over Germany, but many also were over France. Their mission was to drop bombs.

Among the entries: Dec. 24, 1944: Clear day. Flew to an airfield but didn’t hit the target.

Dec. 30, 1944: Hit one of the biggest rail centers in Mannheim, Germany. Had very bad weather coming back.

Dec. 31, 1944: Didn’t catch formation until Heligoland near the coast. Saw bombers go down by Flak [German antitank and anti-aircraft weapons].

Very clear day. Hit jet base at Wenzendorf. Best bomb results ever saw.

Jan. 5, 1944: Faced a lot of

Marvin Prochnow Flak and lost an engine. Lack of fuel forced a landing in France.

“We landed in a friendly area,” Prochnow recalled.

Out of a desire to fly, he joined the Army Air Corps (now the Air Force) in 1942 and earned his wings in 1944.

Prochnow, who will turn 92 on Nov. 9, served in the 385th bomber group, which was part of 8th Air Force. He flew 35 missions during his tour, including some in the Battle of the Bulge.

“Not returning was always in the back of your mind, but you never tried to think about it,” said Prochnow, who lives in Fredericksburg. “We were all young and eager.”

For Prochnow, having a good attitude was critical to surviving, along with not worrying about the danger he was in.

Prochnow also recalled that due to the extreme cold

temperatures of winter, while flying up to 28,000 feet they endured sub-zero temperatures.

“We wore electric gloves and electric suits to keep warm,” he said. “Sometimes they didn’t work.”

Their normal routine was to fly every other day or every third day. Sometimes, due to bad weather, they would engage in that famous military saying: “Hurry up and wait.”

After WWII ended, Prochnow made a career out of the military.

He served in Korea and Vietnam and retired in 1970 as a colonel.

Following his military service, Prochnow spent his time ranching and in real estate.

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Detroit native who now lives in Stonewall, Leonard (Bud) Edwards, 89, now lives in Stonewall, was drafted in

January 1944 and served in the 101st Airborne Division’s 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, B Company. He reached the rank of a private first class (a PFC, E-3).

Edwards served in the northern areas of Bastogne, Belgium (about 92 miles southeast of Brussels, close to the Luxembourg border), near the towns of Champs and Longchamps. His unit’s job was to patrol and protect the towns.

As a rifleman, he operated a light machine gun.

A book was written about this particular area of the Battle of the Bulge, “The Battered Bastards of Bastogne” by George E. Koskimaki.

During his service in the infantry, he earned a Purple Heart at the Hürtgen Forest. He sustained a chest wound when struck by shrapnel from a tank shell.

“It was scary, for a guy who was only 19 years old,” said Edwards.

He had no time to think much about it, considering what else was going on. His ammunition bearer sustained an injury, and Edwards kept the solider in a bomb crater to prevent further injuries.

“I don’t remember much after that,” he said. “I rode across the hood of a Jeep on a stretcher to a field hospital.”

The medics had stopped half of his bleeding by the time they reached the hospital.

To this day, Edwards doesn’t know what happened to the ammunition bearer.

“I was a replacement and didn’t have time to get to know anybody except maybe a few hours,” Edwards said.

He spent the rest of the battle in a hospital. When he was discharged, it was already V-E

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Leonard “Bud” Edwards Day. Edwards recalled that the extreme cold temperatures resulted in a practical approach to war that some might consider insensitive.

“You picked up anything you could find to survive or use,” he said. “Anything that was workable. If a soldier was dead and had on rubber boots or galoshes, someone would take them and use them.”

This was especially true if a dead soldier happened to be wearing warm-weather gear.

Generally, soldiers had no winter clothes — only Army field jackets and olive-drab wool pants.

Despite being from Michigan, with winter temperatures that sometimes reach sub-zero, Edwards still struggled with the “constant cold weather.”

The poem “A Kid with a Machine Gun,” by Vincent J. Speranza, describes some of the conditions: constantly stamping feet to try to keep warm and ungloved fingers sticking to rifle triggers.

Edwards added that a lack of communication made the battle particularly difficult.

“We didn’t know what was going on,” he said. “We were in a small area with few people.

And, at 19, I didn’t know much about military anything. In one year, I went from a punk to a man and just tried to absorb everything being said, told, and how to do it. I never had those experiences before.”

Edwards was discharged in 1945 but immediately reenlisted so as to have an easier way to get home. The Army discharged him for the second and final time in 1947.

By reenlisting, he could choose which branch of the Army to go into.

His choice: the transportation corps, where he served as a tugboat operator in the Caribbean theater.

“There, it was nice and warm,” he recalled, laughing.

Following military service, Edwards worked various jobs and then spent 30 years as a truck driver.

“I moved to Stonewall since it’s warmer,” Edwards said.

A

fter being drafted, Milton Pehl entered the U.S. Army on July 15, 1944.

He served in the 87th Infantry Division’s 347th Regiment in Company M. He reached the rank of corporal and was discharged in 1946.

In the Battle of the Bulge, Pehl served as a replacement. He joked that being a replacement is why he never knew exactly where he was during the battle.

Pehl doesn’t know exactly

where he served, but according to 87th Division troop movements in 1945, he probably was in Belgium, Luxembourg or both.

The Fredericksburg resident, who turned 91 on Oct. 20, was 21 and near the front line when the battle took place.

“That was pretty damn young,” he said. “A lot of soldiers were in their 30s or 40s. There were younger soldiers than me, but I was one of the youngest to be up near the front.”

Pehl’s job was to carry

ammunition for the machine gunner.

“They told us to shoot this way or that way when the time came, to protect the others,” Pehl recalled.

Going in, they were all scared and, probably a normal feeling while being in combat, had times where they didn’t think they’d return home.

“You were always in danger,” he recalled. “You’d ask, ‘Am I next or am I not next?’ since we lost a lot of them. And you’d hear things and get scared. We

Milton Pehl

were always under pressure.

It’s not like living here. You know what you’re doing all the time. There, you take what comes.”

He and the other soldiers were also told to be alert for the 88-millimeter German Flak guns, which the Germans used as anti-tank and antiaircraft weapons. Despite the danger, none of them ever hit him.

However, Pehl sustained an injury that put him in the hospital for three months — frostbite on his left big toe that took a long time to heal.

He was in the hospital when Germany formally surrendered on May 7, 1945.

Pehl, who could speak German, later talked with some Germans after the war and learned this had been the roughest winter they’d had in a long time.

“It was absolutely cold,” he said. “When we’d enter a town, most the buildings were empty. We’d build a fire to warm our feet.”

The frostbite turned into a large, painful blister that then became infected.

In the hospital, the infection finally healed.

Doctors successfully grafted skin from another area of Pehl’s body onto his toe.

After returning home to the Texas Hill Country, Pehl worked in masonry and then carpentry.

His experiences in the Battle of the Bulge, considered by many to be one of the most brutal battles in American military history, left him jaded about war.

“There are a lot of things I could tell everybody, but I don’t want to,” he said. “I’m just like the other guys, forget it. But, to tell you the truth, I think more about it now than I did when I came back. It bothers me. All this stuff happening in the world today, we have no business there. And when they say so many people went over there, it bothers me. Absolutely bothers me.”

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“ VETERANS IN ACTION I went through growing pains in Vietnam on how to be a pathfinder.”

— Larry Foraker

By Richard Zowie Some serve in America’s armed forces for a four-year enlistment while others serve longer or even make a career out of it.

When discharge or retirement approaches, a big question looms.

“What do I do next?”

Some choose civilian occupations that closely mirror their military service.

L

arry Foraker spent three years in the U.S. Army from 1966-1969, including a tour in Vietnam from 1967-1968.

He was an E-5 sergeant when discharged.

Today, he is Lt. Foraker and wears several “hats” with his jobs. He is a lieutenant in the Gillespie County Sheriff’s Office and serves as the jail administrator.

He also is the support services commander and oversees communications along with security at the Gillespie County Courthouse.

In the military, Foraker served in the infantry. He first served in the 82nd Airborne Division and later in the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam as a pathfinder.

Foraker and approximately 14 others flew to Vietnam as pathfinders for the division.

“I wanted to be there,” Foraker said of his time in Vietnam. “I volunteered and enlisted in the military. But what I remember most are the friends I made.

We became pretty close in our missions.

Richard Burns, wrote a book titled “Pathfinder: First In, Last Out,” about their unit.

Foraker earned his pathfinder badge through training that could be described in three words: on the job.

“I went through growing pains in Vietnam on how to be a pathfinder,” Foraker said.

Among the pathfinders’ duties was providing support for all Army aircraft.

This included controlling all combat assaults, all troop resupplies, troop movements, performing “medevacs” of the dead or injured, clearing landing zones and other miscellaneous duties as required.

“We worked very closely with pilots and troops,” Foraker recalled. “We would also report any enemy movement in the area and weather, if needed.”

The San Antonio native returned to America and began working for the San Antonio Fire Department in 1972 before transferring in 1980 as a police officer into the arson division. He also worked as a bomb technician.

Foraker retired from his job in 1995, following 23 years of work in San Antonio, and then spent almost 10 years working for the Bandera County Sheriff’s Office as a deputy.

He then began working in Gillespie County in November 2005.

For Veterans Day, Foraker may travel with his wife to New Mexico and relax.

“I’ve always been a quiet guy,” he said. “I never talked a whole lot about what I did.

I think over the years, as time goes on, I’ve opened up a little bit more, but I pretty much keep to myself.”

A Larry Foraker They eventually beefed us up to platoon size before I left the country. It was a little better by then.”

Some of Foraker’s friends didn’t return, and some of those who did are now deceased. He keeps in touch with some of those still alive.

One close friend who has since died,

fter completing the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Texas A&M University in 1975, John Culpepper received a U.S. Air Force commission. He commanded three supply squadrons, a logistics group and also served in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

In 1986, he received recognition as the Air Force Outstanding Company Grade Supply Officer.

Overseas, he served in Turkey and Belgium.

Culpepper retired in 2002 as a colonel, following 27 years of service.

As an Air Force officer, Culpepper enjoyed mentoring his platoons.

“Virtually every base I was at, I had group of lieutenants,” Culpepper said.

“My philosophy has always been that as the leader, my responsibility was to train the people behind me to take my place.”

During Operation Desert Storm in 1991, Culpepper was assigned to NATO in Airborne Early Warning Force Command.

He didn’t officially participate in combat operations but instead flew in NATO territory over the southern border of Turkey to look into Iraq and ensure America’s early warning force command

John Culpepper and David Wisniewski had all the supplies and people needed to maintain aircraft.

“This was one of the most satisfying things for me,” he said.

In 2001, during Operations Desert Thunder and Desert Fox, he served as the logistics group commander for the lead Air Force Expeditionary Wing.

For Operation Northern Watch, Culpepper was the director of logistics for the Joint Task Force (U.S., Great Britain and Turkey) that flew more than 1,600 combat sorties over northern Iraq.

His unit also supported air and humanitarian operations for Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

After retiring from the military, the colonel spent time in Dallas and in the real estate business. He’s lived in Fredericksburg since 2005 and has been working for the city since 2007.

For the City of Fredericksburg, Culpepper serves as director of Emergency Services. He is in charge of Emergency Medical Services (EMS), the office of Emergency Management, Emergency Services Dispatch, the Fredericksburg Fire Department and the safety office.

“Anything to do with public safety, other than the police force, is my responsibility,” Culpepper said. “There is a tremendous amount of similarity between what I do now and what I did in the military.

Particularly, leadership over different organizations. At the same time, a lot of my additional duties in the Air Force were as a disaster preparedness officer. It steps right into the Emergency Management role.”

Veterans Day tends to be a family affair for Culpepper. Both his father and fatherin-law were career Air Force officers. His wife, Andrea, is an Air Force Academy graduate. One of their sons is a Marine officer while another is in the Naval ROTC at the University of Texas.

“My brother was in the Air Force, so it’s a family dedication and a time of remembrance,” Culpepper said. “We celebrate by going to the Nimitz for the Veterans Day ceremonies.”

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rior to working directly under Culpepper as associate emergency management coordinator, David Wisniewski spent 16.5 years in the U.S. Navy as a pilot and instructor.

He reached the rank of commander.

As a Naval aviator, Wisniewski served in San Diego, Japan, Pensacola, Florida and Somalia. He served on the USS Coral Sea, the Tarawa and the Abraham Lincoln.

His duties included flight instructor and assistant operations officer. Wisniewski also served in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, aboard the Tarawa as an assistant air operations officer.

As a pilot, Wisniewski flew in support of Marines during Desert Storm and then in Somalia, in support of Army Rangers.

Wisniewski remembers the camaraderie.

“Being part of something different and more,” he said. “The ready room environment, in my opinion, is something not duplicated anyplace else.”

Following his decision to leave the military, Wisniewski worked at NASA and trained astronauts in aviation.

“This might sound like bragging, but the space shuttle to me was just another airplane,” he said. Wisniewski spent a year learning the space shuttle enough to teach.

The Houston native, who lives in Blanco County, previously worked with Culpepper at U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. There, they monitored the combat readiness of all strategic nuclear forces.

In his current duties, Wisniewski works under city and county Emergency Services, including EMS and the fire department.

Veterans Day tends to be a somber day for Wisniewski, who lost a few friends in the service.

“You always end up going back and really visiting with people who aren’t there anymore,” he said. “I don’t know if you’d call it a sad day. I don’t know what you’d call it, frankly. Mostly, I try to ignore it for that reason. No disrespect to anybody, I never quite got my head around how I feel about it. You lose a few and get tired of burying people.”

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“ IN SERVICE OF VETS I encourage all veterans and surviving spouses to come in for an appointment to review their potential benefits.” — Tami King

By Tami King

M

y name is Tami King and I am the Gillespie County Veterans Service Officer.

As a county employee, I am responsible for assisting veterans and their dependents who live in Gillespie County with the legal benefits available to them under federal and state laws. There is no charge for my services and this office does not try or judge claims.

Gillespie County is home to approximately 3,000 veterans and 1,000 surviving spouses. I work with 900 clients per year.

I help veterans, their surviving spouses and family members apply for many different benefits.

So what should our local veterans and surviving spouses do? Number one is call for an appointment, so I can set up a file and determine what documents will be needed. At the first appointment, I will review all benefits a person is eligible

for and develop a plan for filing claims. Spouses of veterans are encouraged to attend the appointment, because many benefits will impact them while the veteran is alive and also after they have died.

It’s important to remember that every client’s case is different, and there are many factors to consider in determining eligibility for benefits and filing claims.

All of the clients who file with my office have appointed the Texas Veterans Commission as their veteran’s service organization, which will give me access to their VA files online.

At a minimum, I will need two certified copies of a veteran’s DD-214 (for service after 1949) or other discharge documents for WWII veterans.

The original documents (original signatures or a raised seal) should be recorded with the Gillespie County Clerk.

The clerk will give the client two certified copies free of charge.

If an original DD-214 discharge paper is lost, I can it

Tami King from the National Archives.

I will also need a copy of a client’s marriage certificate (if filing a claim we may need information for all marriages of the veteran and current spouse).

For VA compensation or pen-

Veterans’ Benefits Home loan certificate of eligibility The Gillespie County Veterans SerRetired military issues: death notification, vice Officer can help veterans and CRDP, CRSC, SPB, etc. their spouses with these benefits: Local assistance agencies information Federal: Service connected disability compensation Non-service connected pension for veterans Survivor aid — Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) for a service connected veteran death Survivor pension — non-service connected veteran death Death notifications and burial benefits Education aid National Archives military records Healthcare applications

State: Property tax exemptions for service-connected disabled veterans and their surviving spouses Special license plates Education aid Discharge document recording with the county clerk Texas Veterans Land Board home/improvement/land loans Veterans cemeteries Veterans homes

sion benefits, a copy of VA rating letters will be needed.

Retired military should bring a copy of their most recent DFAS statement.

Gillespie County veterans and their spouses receive a total of $8,564,000 per year in disability compensation and pension payments.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) spends $369,000 for health care for our county’s veterans.

The total the VA pays to our residents for all programs is $17,091,000.

Without these funds, many of our clients would not be able to pay their property taxes, medications, repairs to their vehicles or homes, and help pay for assisted and nursing home care.

Outreach is an important part of my job. I offer community seminars every year about vet-

eran benefits.

I am grateful to the many community partners who refer clients to me, such as Schaetter Funeral Home, Fredericksburg Funeral Home, Heritage Place Assisted Living, Knopp Assisted Living and Nursing Homes, Tri Star Care Center, Windcrest Nursing Home, Fredericksburg Nursing Home, Hill Country Memorial Hospice, local churches, and concerned veterans and citizens.

I have been in this job since March 2007 and have increased the access to services from two days a week to five since 2009.

I served in the U.S. Navy as an enlisted dental technician for seven years and received my commission in the Medical Service Corps as a healthcare administrator. I retired from the Navy in 1996.

I have been accredited by the VA since 2010, which allows me to provide additional and enhanced services for my clients. I am required to attend continuing education seminars annually and must take a written annual test to retain my accreditation. VA benefits and application procedures change frequently, so it is critical to stay current on these changes.

Many veterans believe that because they only served on active duty for a few years they are not eligible for benefits.

Unless you come in and set up a file, you will never know if you have benefits.

I encourage all veterans and surviving spouses to come in for an appointment to review their potential benefits.

Gillespie County veterans should contact me at 830-9973758 for an appointment.

Thank You!!

To All Veterans For Your Service!

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Veterans Day is a time of tribute, remembrance, patriotism and gratitude.

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“ COUNTY MILITARY

8

They served as a semi-military unit. The Rangers were organized to protect settlers from Indian attacks and then developed into military support.” — Joe Davis

By Richard Zowie

I

n the past six months, the amount of visitors to Fort Martin Scott has tripled. As of mid-October, the fort had approximately 100 per week.

Duke Davis, executive director of the Fort Martin Scott Friends, attributes that to the Texas Rangers Heritage Center being built next door to the fort along U.S. 290 East, just outside of Fredericksburg.

Davis said that, once the heritage center is completed, the concept is that it will become the “Texas Rangers Heritage Center at Fort Martin Scott.”

“It’ll be all one common-shared facility with a dual identity,” Davis said.

“Once the center opens, you’ll be able to enter Fort Martin Scott through the gates of the Ranger center through their parking lot.”

That also means that the guard house, the fort’s only original building, will become the new welcome center.

Currently, they are working with an advisory committee of the City of Fredericksburg on a five-year plan to rebuild the fort.

In the first year, they received $98,000 from the city budget.

“With that, we’re doing all-new roofs and porches on the existing buildings,” Davis said. “In the guard house, we will ‘climatize’ it, put in a security system and have a video interpretive kiosk down there. It’ll be a nice improvement.”

To continue the renovations at the fort, they are seeking donors and benefactors.

The fort originally had 21 buildings.

Currently, it has five. Besides the guard house, three buildings are replicas and one was built in 1870, which is 30 years after the fort opened.

The fort opened as Camp Houston in 1848 (named after Sam Houston) and was a United States Army Post in Texas, designed to protect Texas settlers and travelers from Indian attacks.

“They decided it was a good location with water and as a place for horsemanship skills and other things,” Davis said.

Then, in 1849, the camp was rechristened as Fort Martin Scott after Major Scott, who served in the Fifth United States Infantry and was killed in 1847 during the Mexican-American War. Davis added that the fort was later occupied by the Confederate Army

Duke Davis during the Civil War. Following the war, the fort was vacated and later sold to the Braeutigam family.

Nearly a century later in 1959, the family sold it back to the city.

“In the late 1980s to early 1990s, a group came together to reactive the fort as a historical site,” Davis said. “The

interest waned but then a new effort to do this was a year and a half ago.”

To further promote the fort as an historical place and to help people learn of its place in Texas history, they put on events, programs and reenactments.

For more information, visit www. ftmartinscott.org.

TEXAS RANGERS SITE

By Richard Zowie

S

lightly east of Fredericksburg on U.S. 290, construction continues on a complex that will soon let westbound drivers know they’re entering Fredericksburg.

The facility is the Texas Rangers Heritage Center.

“With the help and support of the Former Texas Ranger Foundation, this worthwhile effort is being expanded to include much, much more to share with future generations of Texans through Fredericksburg’s Texas Rangers Heritage Center,” said Joe B. Davis, a retired Texas Ranger and president of the Former Texas Ranger Foundation.

Primarily a law enforcement organization today, the Texas Rangers in the 19th century during the early days of Texas also served the Lone Star State militarily.

Initially, Stephen F. Austin formed the Rangers in 1823

by appointing 10 frontiersmen to serve.

The Rangers would then serve in the battles of the Alamo and San Jacinto, along with the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma in the Mexican War. “They served as a semimilitary unit,” said Davis.

“The Rangers were organized to protect settlers from Indian attacks and then developed into military support.”

By the early 1880s, Davis said, with Mexico and Indian attacks no longer posing a problem, the Rangers focused more on law enforcement.

The Ranger foundation also contacted Kerrville and San Antonio about possibly building the heritage center there. Following the talks, they felt Fredericksburg was a good fit.

Perhaps it’s also fitting, considering that Gillespie County was named after Robert Addison Gillespie, who served as a Texas Ranger.

“They told us they liked our

Joe Davis ideas of what to build and felt like it would be good for both of us,” Davis said of the discussions with local officials.

“We knew Fredericksburg’s reputation as far as bringing in visitors and tourists. In this business you have to have that. It just fit in with the area and the Ranger history.

They offered us property for a reasonable fee and we couldn’t

afford to turn it down.”

Davis said they are planning for a grand opening sometime in mid-April 2015. There will be a soft opening in January or February 2015.

Among the amenities the heritage place will have is a 50-foot-tall bell tower. This will serve as the center’s centerpiece.

There will also be a Ring of Honor, amphitheater, living

history area, pavilion and a museum.

The main building, which will be part of the Phase II project, will have 7,600 square feet and be allotted for five galleries with interactive displays.

In mid-October, crews worked on various projects: installing entrance gates, constructing the pavilion (the metal frame was already up), rocking the campanile tower and installing the foundation of the Ring of Honor.

The ring consists of a 30-footdiameter badge with points weighing about 9,000 pounds apiece.

“The points on the badge are in place,” Davis said of the Ring of Honor, which includes names of Texas Rangers killed in the line of duty. “Everything is progressing, as far as the first phase goes.”

Also as of mid-October, they were to soon begin masonry work on the amphitheater and on installing equipment to provide electricity. They will also install three flagpoles.

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“ NATIONAL GUARD

9

Because it’s part of the first battalion of the regiment, those stationed there refer to it as ‘First of the First.’”

By Richard Zowie

T

hey might not be readily visible, but there are more than 120 soldiers just west of town at the Fredericksburg Armory at 593 Armory Road.

These soldiers, all enlisted, serve in Charlie Company, First Battalion of the 141st Infantry Regiment. This Texas National Guard unit is part of the 36th Infantry Division.

Because it’s part of the first battalion of the regiment, those stationed there refer to it as “First of the First.”

Charlie Company’s parent unit, the 141st Infantry Regiment, has a lengthy history. It originally was constituted in 1823 as part of the Texas Regiment of the Mexican National Militia. Following Texas’ independence from Mexico, it reorganized on Dec. 6, 1836 as the Harrisburg County Regiment.

Following Texas’ annexation into the United States in 1845, the regiment then was assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division of the Texas Militia on April 21, 1846.

The regiment served in the Mexican War, Civil War (for the Confederate Army), World War I, World War II and the War on Terrorism.

Those in charge of Charlie Company in Fredericksburg include Sgt. First Class Chuck Rowley, the Readiness NonCommissioned Officer (NCO); Staff Sgt. Danny Medina, the headquarters platoon sergeant and training NCO; Sgt. Jose Victorino, the supply sergeant.

Sgt. Jose Victorino and Staff Sgt. Danny Medina (In the military, an NCO refers to an enlisted member who is in a leadership position.)

In their military careers, both Medina and Victorino have been deployed.

Medina served with the 82nd Airborne Division, while Victorino was deployed with this national guard unit when it was “called up.”

Charlie Company previously was an infantry unit somewhere else but has been in Fredericksburg since 2009 as an infantry rifle company.

Like other national guard and reserve units, Charlie Company generally trains one weekend per month and then two weeks a year. The training varies, depending upon the kind they’re doing.

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“If we’re going to be firing weapons or mortars, we’ll go to Camp Bullis [northwest of San Antonio on Interstate 10] or to Camp Bowie [in Brownwood],” said Medina. “But, for in-class or land navigation, we’ll do it here.”

The staff sergeant described a “typical week” as this: On Monday and Tuesday, they do a lot of paperwork and administration.

They will also have a link-up meeting with higher headquarters to make sure everyone’s “on the same sheet of music” as far as administrative actions, evaluation reports and planning for next drill.

Then, on Wednesday and Thursday, they meet and go over plans for the

weekend and getting the soldiers ready.

They coordinate the MREs (Meals Ready to Eat), lodging, training and making sure everything’s “squared away” and knowing what ranges they’re visiting or movements they’ll be doing.

Friday is when they have “clean-up day” where they take care of the grounds and cut the grass, clean things up and take care of whatever needs to be done.

Charlie Company’s most recent recruiter was transferred to Kentucky, but they have a new one assigned who should be there soon.

“People can come by the office and ask us any questions they might have,” said Victorino. “We’ll guide them to a recruiter.”

AMERICANS REMEMBER ALL

VETERANS

THANK YOU to all those that have served our country

Honor those who sacrificed to contribute to the strength and

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Thank You For Your Service

To all the men and women who have served our country in times of peace and war, we say thank you. We salute your courage and commitment to the preservation of freedom for one and all.

In Respectful Honor and Loving Memory of Master Sergeant WILLIAM BURTIS HEDGPETH World War II Korea the farmhouse wishes to honor all men and women in our armed forces.

Thank you for your sacrifices for our freedom.

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THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE Gillespie County men, along with at least one woman, gave their lives while serving during times of war.

The conflicts include the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War and the War on Terror.

They are listed by the war and the dates of their deaths (if known).

Names and dates have been provided by the Gillespie County Veterans Service Office, along with www.fbgtxgensoc.org and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.

Civil War — 1861-1865 Heinrich Markwart, Aug. 10, 1862 Christian Schaefer, Aug. 10, 1862 Heinrich Weyershausen, Aug. 10, 1862 August Luckenbach, Aug. 10, 1862 Valentine Hohmann, Oct. 18, 1862 World War I — 1917-1918 Max Ahrens, Oct. 3, 1918 Emil G.A. Beyer, Oct. 15, 1918 Edmund Brinkhoff, Oct. 8, 1918 William H. Enderlin, March 11, 1919 Louis J. Jordan, March 5, 1918 Eddie Kaiser, Nov. 25, 1918 Edward H. Klaerner, Oct. 11, 1918 Henry Koch, Oct. 10, 1918 Hugh Leslie

Pagett McBeth Alfred J. Schlaudt, Oct. 15, 1918 Henry Schneider Jr., Nov. 3, 1918 Nolan W. Tobin, Oct. 20, 1918 World War II — 1941-1946 Harold E. Ahrens, Aug. 5, 1943 Rubin M. Althaus, Dec. 4, 1942 Alberto Arhelger, April 15, 1946 Elgin E. Becker, June 10, 1944 Will G. Bird, May 3, 1945 Wilburn H. Dechert, April 27, 1944 William Dietel Jr., July 28, 1943 Wilburn E. Durst, Jan. 18, 1945 Chester E. Evans, Jan. 17, 1945 Burman Farris, Oct. 29, 1943 Clemens Fiedler, April 10, 1944 Andrew R. Frantzen, July 30, 1945 Frank C. French Jr., Dec. 2, 1942 Curtis L.C. Griffin, Feb. 4, 1945 Victor Haag, Aug. 13, 1945 Clifford Hahn, Jan. 24, 1944 Joseph A. Jenschke, Oct. 23, 1944 Willie Johanson, Oct. 24, 1944 Karl Kappus, Dec. 18, 1944 Lorenz Kirchhoff, Nov. 22, 1943 Eugene L. Klein, June 10, 1945 Harry T. Klein, April 18, 1945 Ernest F. Knoll Jr., Feb. 6, 1945 Gladys R. Lee, April 3, 1943 Edgar Leonhard, July 25, 1944 Elgin J. Luckenbach, April 16, 1944 Thomas W. Miller, Nov. 17, 1945 Alvin W. Moldenhauer, Jan. 19, 1945

Ewald J. Novian, Jan. 15, 1943 James M. Pyka, June 19, 1945 Allen W. Roeder, Feb. 21, 1945 Aaron G. Roeder, Feb. 21, 1945 Victor Rosenbach, Sept. 19, 1944 Calvin O. Sageser, Dec. 15, 1943 Edgar James Schandua, Sept. 14, 1943 Elgin A. Scharnhorst, May 19, 1945 Emil Schlaudt Jr., Dec. 1, 1942 Whitney B. Sellers, April 15, 1944 Luther B. Stockard, Oct. 2, 1942 Fred O. Talley, Dec. 15, 1944 Edgar H. Wittkohl, June 3, 1944 Bruno W. Wunderlich, Nov. 12, 1944 Korean War — 1950-1955 Guenther Burrer, May 15, 1951 Edwin E. Grienke, Sept. 9, 1950 Harvey E. Houy, July 15, 1952 Kermit K. Koch, May 3, 1951 Stanley E. Neffendorf, March 22, 1953 Allen F. Schlueter, Oct. 7, 1951

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Vietnam War — 1964-1975 Daniel M. Gunn, July 23, 1966 Raymond M. Ottmers Jr., Aug. 23, 1967 Dennis W. Schonberg, Feb. 2, 1969 Sammie J. Vollmar, June 1, 1967 War on Terror — 2001-present Phillip I. Neel, April 8, 2007 Christopher N. Staats, Oct. 16, 2009

Thanks for your service!

To all who have served and are currently serving, we thank you. For your honor, selflessness and unyielding dedication, we are eternally grateful.

May God bless you and your families.

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For serving our country, thank you. We are proud to serve you.

To those who defend liberty and life, thank you today and always.

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Let us never take our freedom for granted.

On this Veterans Day, let us remember the sacrifices our veterans and their families have made.

Join with us in honoring and thanking all those who have served or are serving in the United States Armed Forces.

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