veterans day 2011
DESCRIPTION
Austin Daily Herald tribute to area Veterans.TRANSCRIPT
By Sarah [email protected]
Every once in a while,23-year-old Codie Janssencatches his mind begin-ning to wander.
At work at Viracon inOwatonna, the Albert Leanative, a specialist in theU.S. Army, said he some-times begins to thinkabout what he has gonethrough.
He returned Sept. 29after three years of activeduty in the Army, whichincluded a year on thefront lines in Afghanistan.
“I feel proud that I didwhat I did — served mycountry,” Janssen said.
Though he remembersthe fun times he had dur-
ing downtime with his fel-low soldiers — his friends— he said he also remem-bers the difficult times heexperienced.
Amember of the 4th In-fantry Division, 4thBrigade, 1-12 Infantry Bat-talion, B Company,Janssen said five of hisfriends were killed, and heeven came close to deathhimself after a truck hewas riding in was blownup by a 500-pound road-side bomb.
He still suffers fromback problems related tothe incident.
All of the experiencescombined, Janssen said,he has a new appreciationfor Veterans Day.
“It’s a day of remem-
brance for my friends thatI lost and the people stillover there,” he said.
How he got into themilitary
Janssen, the son ofScott Gleason and JulieJanssen, said he joinedthe military at a timewhen he didn’t have themoney to go to college andwas sick of working at fastfood restaurants.
He had a friend whohad just gotten out ofbasic training, and thatfriend talked him intomeeting with a recruiter.
He joined through theMinnesota NationalGuard, but his commit-ment was for eight years— three years of activeduty with the U.S. Armyand the remaining fiveyears with the NationalGuard.
Janssen said he wentinto basic training Sept.29, 2008, at Fort Benning inGeorgia. He had his 21stbirthday while in train-ing.
Following 16 weeks ofinfantry training, he wentto his unit at Fort Carson,Colo. The unit left May 28,2009, for Afghanistan.
‘Some people whodidn’t want usaround at all’
Janssen said when hefirst got to Afghanistan hewas part of a machine guncrew, which carried someof the unit’s heaviestweapons.
“You were the first lineof offense and defense foryour unit,” he said.
He also was a driver forvehicles during mountedpatrols.
In the middle of August
2009 — after the truck hewas riding inwas blownup— he recovered in the hos-pital andwas later awardeda Purple Heart.
About halfway throughthe deployment, he gotswitched to the position ofgrenadier rifleman andthen became part of theregular line squad.
The squad would go outon patrols, ask questionsand look for people the unitshould be suspicious of.
Though he was hesitant
to say a lot about his serv-ice, he noted that therewere some people whowanted their help and oth-ers who didn’t want themaround at all.
He left AfghanistanJune 13, 2010, after whichhe went back to Fort Car-son.
He returned to AlbertLea about a month and ahalf ago.
What’s next?Janssen said he will
soon begin his five-yearcommitment with the Min-nesota National Guard.
Whilemost people in thecommunity do not knowheis even in the military —only his close friends andthe people he works withknow he went toAfghanistan—he saidhe isproud of his service.
He liveswithhismother,Julie,who said she is proudto see the man her son hasbecome.
While it was an emo-tional time to have himaway, and she still isbrought to tears when shethinks of what her son hasexperienced, she is gratefulfor his time he has spent inservice of the country.
It only took one short deployment formilitary veteran JayHowton of RoseCreek to feel the effects of war.ThoughHowton had a long history in
the Navy and National Guard, his de-ployment to Iraqwith a Guard unit fromAustin in 2005 was tough.“Two days before I came home, I got
blown up for the third time,” Jay said,and mentioned others traveling in histransportation company had it just asbad or worse. The second time Jay washit by an explosion, in June of 2005, aman in his unit was killed.Jay was 40-years-old when he de-
ployed, so he felt an extra obligation tolook out for 18- 19- and 20-year-olds as hewas the same age as some of their par-ents and knew some of them, too.“The worst nightmare is to have to
come back as one of those guy’s leaderand have to say, ‘Hey, you know, I didn’tkeep him alive.’ You take responsibilityfor it. That was the hardest part forme,”he said.But among those stresses, Jay admit-
ted the hardships he went through inIraq were harder on others, especiallythose who witnessed injuries anddeaths.“I think it’s harder on some of those
guys than it is yourself,” he said.Those events were obviously hard on
Jay’s family, as well.“I was fortunate in the fact to find out
he was injured when he calledme,” saidJay’s wife, Linda Howton.She was fortunate because when Jay
called, she knew he was alive. At thattime, she was co-leader of the FamilyReadiness Group andwas one of the fewpeople in line to find out about casual-ties before others.But even though time heals for some,
that hasn’t always been the case for theHowtons. When Jay returned, he hadmajor spinal injuries and had to receiveongoingmedical attention. His extremi-ties had numbness that wouldn’t seemto go away, he said. Though his motorskills are OK now, he had symptoms ofPost Traumatic Stress Disorder, as well.“I think it’s harder now, day-to-day,”
Linda said about life being tougher than
the initial shock of learning about Jay’sincident.The Howtons’ son and daughter have
been affected as well.“They were old enough to remember
what he was like before he deployed,”Linda said, who mentioned how Jay’sdemeanor has changed since his de-
ployment.“They miss the dad that they had be-
fore,” she added.But instead of wallowing in the past,
the Howtons are forging forward, goingon with life. The Howtons’ daughter,Emily, is going through college, andtheir son, Jacob, will enlist in the mili-
tary after he graduates from highschool.“He still has a sense of pride, and he
wants to serve,” Linda said.TheHowtons aren’t looking back and
clearly are not in denial about life’sstresses. Jay is a realist about the situa-tion.“You adjust,” Jay said, and added
that families going through the samethings often want their lives to go backto the way they were.“That’s impossible,” he added.Even though the Howtons admit life
is emotionally tougher than it used to befor them, they have been fortunate.Jay, an assistant productionmanager
at Akkerman Inc. in Brownsdale, wasable to return to his job in 2006. Eventhough he has beenworking there for 21years, he said it was hard to re-adjust tothat position. Still, others have it worse.Many returning from service can’t findjobs, especially with today’s job market.Jay doesn’t know what he would havedone if he couldn’t have returned toAkkerman, and feels sympathy forthose who can’t find work.“Oh man, I really think it would be
hard for anybody to find a job now,” hesaid.Furthermore, the Howtons have the
support of other service men andwomen who served with Jay. For Jay inparticular, it’s hard to attend VeteransDay or Memorial Day celebrations, buthe does find some common groundwiththose who have gone through the rigorswith him.“We all understand each other,” he
said. “We understand the struggle.”However, Jay was willing to give a
presentation to youngsters, teachingthem about themilitary and some of thehardships. Linda may realize that sortof thing is a stepping stone to movingon.“In spite of all the difficulty, we’re
better people,” she said.Despite the military being tough on
the Howtons, they said they have no re-grets.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2011 AUSTIN DAILY HERALD
• LP Gas• Hubbard Feed• Chemicals
& Fertilizer• On SightGrain Pick-upED
DexterElevator, Inc.
Dexter, Minnesota507-584-6422
Recovering from war
Jay Howton was deployed in the Middle East as part of Iraqi Freedom in 2005.
Story by Matt Peterson • Photo by Eric Johnson
Injured in action, Iraq veteran still feels effects of combat
Soldier has a new outlook on Veterans Day
Spc. Codie Janssen returned to Albert Lea at the end of Septem-ber after three years of active duty with the U.S. Army. He servedin Afghanistan from May 2009 through June 2010. He will soonbe beginning a five-year commitment with the Minnesota Na-tional Guard.Sarah Stultz/[email protected]
AUSTIN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2011
ADAMSBUILDERS SUPPLY• Rollex Siding & Soffit• AndersenWindows• Entrance Doors• Makita Power Tools• Plumbing & Electrical• Building Materials• Paint & Stain• Fencing & Gates
220055 CCoommmmeerrccee SSttrreeeett SSWWAAddaammss •• 582-3210
HAMILTONAUCTION CO.
(507) 584-0133130 State Hwy. 16 , Dexter, MN 55926(Located Off I-90 at Dexter, MN Exit them 1/4 Mile E. on Hwy 16)
WWee AArree HHeerree FFoorr AAllll YYoouurr AAuuccttiioonn NNeeeeddssReal Estate • Farm Equipment • Household
National Guard soldiers ready to deploy in downtown Austin on Aug. 27, 1917. The soldiers are lining up in front of Hollister,which was located were El Mariachi now is.
This photo shows the funeral for Olaf B. Damm, the veteranthe VFW Post 1216 is named after.
Stan Brewster, pictured here during World War II in 1945,served as a Navy Pilot at a U.S. Naval Station in Sanford, Fla.
Story and Photo by Ed Shannon
For two residents of the Good Samaritan Society,Oct. 8 revived memories of their military serviceduring World War II.
On that Saturday the two U.S. Navy veterans joined adozen other veterans from Freeborn County on a oneday trip to Washington, D.C., to visit the nation’s WorldWar II Memorial.
During that special day Harold Holst and HowardSweet visited the World War II Memorial, plus theVietnam and Korean War Memorials, the Iwo Jima flagraising statue in Arlington, Va., and went on a bus tourof the nation’s capital city.
Holst served for 17 months on the USS Oberrender, adestroyer escort he called a “tin can.” He grew up inLake City and started working at Hormel in Austinprior to World War II. During his service in the PacificTheater he said he saved another sailor’s life. After thewar he again worked at Hormel until retirement. Holsthas lived at Good Samaritan and says it’s a “good place.”
Sweet served on a small ship in the Aleutian Islandsof Alaska that transported supplies to isolated bases inthe North Pacific and Bering Sea. He served in the U.S.Navy from October 1943 to January 1946 and was a ruralmail carrier in the Aldenarea for 34 years. Sweet haslived at Bancroft CreekEstate for 13 years and saidhe was one of the firstresidents. He commentedthat this part of the GoodSamaritan Society is “a verygood place to live.”
Their special day inOctober was a time with areally full schedule. Holstand Sweet were taken to thecounty shop on NorthBridge Avenue and left thecity in a van about 4 a.m.
What was actually thelast trip from the Rochester airport for the SoutheastMinnesota Honor Flight organization was on a Deltaairliner. This plane had 185 passengers. Of this number,118 were World War II veterans and the rest wereguardians or escorts and several medical personnel.(There was one guardian for each two veterans.)
The arrival at a Washington airport was the start ofa day with groups of people greeting the veterans. AsHolst commented, “I never saw so many people and didso much handshaking.”
For the two veterans from the Good SamaritanSociety, there were no real problems getting aroundfrom tour buses to the various memorials at all. Holstrelies on a wheelchair and Sweet uses a walker. Yet, theyhad plenty of assistance from others to move aroundduring this special day.
Sweet said there were two former senators at theWorld War II Memorial to greet the Honor Flightparticipants from various parts of the nation. One wasBob Dole, who was a senator from Kansas and awounded veteran of World War II. He was a strongpromoter of this memorial that was dedicated in 2004.Also there to greet veterans on Oct. 8 was his wife,Elizabeth Dole, a former senator from North Carolina.The Doles, incidentally, lived somewhat nearby and hetries to be at the memorial as often as possible to meetthe Honor Flight participants.
One detail of this trip that the two former sailorsstressed was the fact their trip and three meals that daywas at absolutely no cost.
Their charter flight left the Washington airport about7:30 p.m., Minnesota time. The trip back to Rochestertook two hours. Arrival in Rochester was a real surprisewith many friends and relatives, plus several honorguard units from area veterans’ organizations, on handto greet the Honor Flight group. Sweet said there wereeven people from Alden in the crowd.
This really special day for Holst and Sweet endedabout midnight with the arrival back in Albert Lea.
Memoriesrevived inHonor Flight
Good Samaritan Society residents Harold Holst, left, and HaroldSweet are World War II veterans. On Oct. 8, they were with agroup of area veterans who went to Washington, D.C., on anHonor Flight.
“I never sawso many
people anddid so much
handshaking.”
-Harold HolstVeteran on arriving in
Washington, D.C, forHonor Flight.
This photo shows the casket of a soldier with the surname Nemitz being led off a train at the Austin’s Milwaukee Road depot.
Vets through the yearsAll photos courtesy of the Mower County Historical Society
A group of Minnesota soldiers spent about twomonths in jail after helping a slave free his fam-ily.
The 9th regiment of Army soldiers was origi-nally recruited to guard against the Sioux uprisingand was based out of St. Peter.
Later, the soldiers went south. On Nov. 12, 1863,a slave entered the camp of Companies K and C,which had been recruited in Austin in 1862, andbegged the men to help him rescue his family, whohad been sold and shipped to Kentucky.
Forty-one soldiers — including multiple fromMower County — from the two companies led bySgt. Frank Merchant stopped the train, held up theconductor and rescued the slave’s family. While thefamily fled into a nearby woods, a high rankingMissouri officer tried to prevent the rescue. How-ever, that officer was “roughly handled” by theMinnesotans.
Later that day, the men were arrested and jailed.About two months later, Union officials learned themen were being held with their only offense beingto rescue slaves from rebel sympathizers.
The soldiers were soon released.
—Austin Daily Herald, from MCHS data
Army soldiers in Minnesota’s 9th Regiment arepictured during the Civil War. Multiple soldiers,including many from Mower County, were ar-rested and jailed for two months after helping aslave free his family from a train.
Local soldiers werejailed after helpingfree slave’s familyduring Civil War
Veterans DayAUSTIN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2011
Corporal
US ARMY
KOREANCONFLICT
BURLYNDELHANTY
Seaman 1st Class
US NAVY
WORLD WAR II
CHARLESRECTOR
Corporal
US MARINES
KOREANCONFLICT
JERALD F.MOHRFELD
Major
US ARMY
KOREA, VIETNAM,DESERT STORM
NORMAN E.HECIMOVICH
Motor MachinistMate 3rd Class
US NAVY
WORLD WAR II
QUENTIN M.GOSKESEN
Private 1st Class
US ARMY
WORLD WAR II
HAROLDDREYER
Sergeant E-5
US MARINES
DESERT STORM
PATRICK D.SPRANDEL
Master Sergeant(Retired)
US AIR FORCE
VIETNAM
DARYL H.KILGORE
Corporal
17th Airborne Div.Glider Inf.
WORLD WAR II
ALFRED M.SIMON
E-4
US ARMY
VIETNAM1968-1969
DAVIDFREIN
E-4
US ARMY
VIETNAM1968 - 1969
CHUCKFREIN
Sergeant
US MARINES
WORLD WAR II
MERLYNSELLERS
Private1st Class
US ARMY
WORLD WAR II
DELBERTHOBBS
AK2
US NAVY
VIETNAM
HAROLD (SKIP)MAYHEW
SP4
US ARMY
VIETNAM
LARRYSABANISH
SP5
US ARMY
VIETNAM
GARYSABANISH
Machinest Mate2nd Class
US NAVY
KOREAN CONFLICT
ROBERT L.NAUMAN
Master Sergeant E-8
US ARMY
PANAMA
GORDONPARGELLIS
SergeantMINNESOTA
NATIONAL GUARDIRAQ
2 DEPLOYMENTS
BENOWENS
Corporal - T5US ARMY (42-45)
WORLD WAR II,SOUTH & NORTH
PACIFIC
GAYLORD H.TAPP
BROTHERS IN VIETNAM
SpecialistUS ARMY
NATIONAL GUARDOPERATION
IRAQI FREEDOM
KRISTA JOYFLINK
Tech. Sergeant
Infantry 24th Division
WORLD WAR II
RICHARDSELTZ
Gunners Mate
US NAVY
NOVEMBER 14, 1942 - JANUARY 21, 1946
BERNARDMcGEE
Private
US ARMY
WORLD WAR II
FRANKLINLARWECK
Marine veteranhonored withSaipan Award
Heather Christianson, from left, Cindy Renteria and Kelsey Brandt
lead students in the singing of the National Anthem Thursday morn-
ing during a student held Veteran's Day Celebration in the Austin High
School annex. Right: Austin High School teacher Charles Brandt talks
about his time in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam Conflict Thursday
morning during a student held Veteran's Day Celebration in the high school
annex. Eric Johnson/[email protected]
Austin Daily [email protected]
World War II Marine Corps veteranJoseph P. Rysavy, 91, of Austin will behonored with the Saipan Award at 7p.m. Sunday at Assembly of Godchurch, 4240 18th Ave. NW.Cpl. Joseph P.
Rysavy served in the2nd Tank Battalion,2nd Marine Division.He was a tank ra-dioman on amphibiouslandings and invasionsof Tarawa, Saipan, andTinian and wasawarded the PurpleHeart. He also wastaken on the HonorFlight this spring.The Commonwealth
of the Northern Mari-ana Islands, which in-cludes the islands ofSaipan and Tinian, is-sued a medallion com-memorating the 60thanniversary of its free-dom from Japan in 2004. Rysavy foughton Saipan during World War II, and atthe November Scott Hosier World WarII Roundtable event, his sons and grand-son will present him with the SaipanMedallion.
Veterans talkabout Vietnam
AHS holds assembly for soldiers
By Evelina Smirnit-skayaMCT Information Services
OAKDALE — Con-nie and Bob Bade arenot professional bak-ers, but for a goodcause they can makemore than 300 dozencookies in less thanfive hours.For the past four
years, the Oakdalecouple have teamed upwith community mem-bers at GethsemaneLutheran Church inMaplewood to bakecookies for the troops.This year, about 35 sol-diers, most of themserving overseas, re-ceived a box of choco-late chip cookies intime for Veterans Day.The rest went to areaveterans homes.The Bades buy the
ingredients and shipthe packages them-selves. Gethsemanehelps with the ship-ping costs, but the cou-ple still spent about$250 of their ownmoney for the sup-plies. They also organ-ize the event.
Couple’scookies forsoldiers a go
Rysavy