» The first Fort Myers BeachMarathon was held Sunday. C1

» And today, the Midpoint Memorial Bridge will be closedfrom 6:30 to 9 p.m. due to a 5KRun/Walk. The event starts at 7p.m. on the Fort Myers side.

SPORTS

RUNNING ALLOVER TOWNTHIS HOLIDAYSgt. Wellington Orozco looks up at the dog tags

on the Iraq War Monument Star. PHOTOS BY LINDSAY

TERRY/THE NEWS-PRESS

Watch a videofrom thededicationceremony atnews-press.com.

INSIDE» List of VeteransDay events A5

» Woman to helpblinded vet runmarathon A5

» Horse ranch helpsvets after wartimeservice D1

» Vets talk abouthow service helpedtheir careers A14

» Checking in withthe United States’oldest World War IIvet 1B

For most Americans, the Iraq war brings upvisions of burning oil wells, miles upon miles ofsand and our soldiers helping free the countryfrom a tyrant’s grip.

A monument for veterans of the conflict wasdedicated Sunday afternoon at Four Mile CoveEco Park in Cape Coral. More than 250 camejoined in the ceremonies and get a look at it.

“I think it’s awesome,” said Rita Fontanez,whose husband, Felix, served in Iraq as a mil-itary police officer. “Someone should have re-membered them a long time ago.”

She said her husband died from pulmonaryproblems which he was convinced was relatedto the burning oil wells during the war.

“He really loved serving his country, he wasvery proud,” said his daughter, Cynthia Fonta-nez. “He would have loved this.”

The locally designed monument brought outveterans from many different conflicts.

Corey Kent of Cape Coral, who was gravelyinjured by a explosion while on patrol in Af-ghanistan, came in solidarity with Iraq veter-ans.

“I think it’s awesome,” he said. “The monu-ment looks pretty good.”

James Nygaard of Estero was snapping pho-tos of the dog tag of his son, Michael, whoserved in Iraq and is now a drill instructor at

CAPE CORAL

James Nygaard, of Estero, takes a photograph of son Michael's dog tag, which is on the Iraq War Monument.

More than 250 on hand to see memorial star’s dedicationBy Michael Braunmbraun@news-press.com

See MEMORIAL » A6

Cape honors Iraq vets

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she met the description for ayoung French spy. Her fathercleared up the confusion.

But this day was abouthappiness, and free gum.

“Do you have any chewinggum?” she asked the Amer-icans, who were known forcarrying it. “We used to havenerve.”

The Fort Myers resident,now 85, has had no shortageof nerve. After moving to theU.S. without her parents, sheenrolled at George Washing-ton University and worked ina mental institution. Herhours there gave her per-spective. She realized peoplehave much greater problems.She learned to let go of the

In August 1944, Betty Ste-vens and her friends tookto the streets to kiss the

Americans who arrived withFrench troops to liberateParis.

For four years, the Nazishad occupied her home cityduring World War II. The16-year-old flung her armsaround the neck of a soldier.She was sick of toting a gasmask with her to school. Shewas weary of war. Severalyears earlier, according tofamily lore, she had beenpursued by the German po-lice after a ride on the OrientExpress. She was returningfrom boarding school, and

THE WISDOM PROJECT

After the war, she’ll take peace any dayBy Janine Zeitlin jzeitlin@news-press.com

Betty Stevens, 85, now a Fort Myers resident, came through EllisIsland as a teenager after World War II. SARAH COWARD/THE NEWS-PRESS

See WISDOM » A8See a video of Betty Stevens atnews-press.com.

Information is scarce forsome in the area with friendsand relatives in the Philippineshit by a Saturday, with a deathtoll hitting 10,000 and climbing,while others have heard theirrelatives are safe.

Jeanne Isberto, president ofthe Filipino-American Associa-tion of Southwest Florida, saidthe Cape Coral-based group iscollecting money for relief ef-forts for the typhoon-strickencountry.

“First of all, from our funds,we’re set-ting aside$3,000 forvictims ofYolanda,”Isbertosaid. Shesaid thefundswould beused forPhilip-pines re-lief forthe storm,

considered the largest in re-corded history, and an 8.0earthquake that hit the samearea two weeks ago.

“We have doctors and othersfrom the community contact-ing us to make donations,” shesaid, adding that those whowant to make targeted dona-tions can make checks out to aspecific person or area and theassociation will make sure itgets delivered.

Cely Cosio, of Cape Coral,said friends of her family in the

TYPHOON AFTERMATH

LocalFilipinogroupsget readyto helpBy Michael Braunmbraun@news-press.com

See TYPHOON » A8

» Ghastly sightsabound in the stormzone. 1B

» Filipinos try to findout about familymembers 2B

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