I sat listening to ten perfectly ordinary men describing to me and an audience of about forty people some very extraordinary things. These ten veterans of varying rank and age came to Pontiac City Hall today to share their stories of service life in the middle east.
Here by invitation of The Livingston County War Museum / Dal Estes Education Center, all ten spoke of how they were the ones honored by this invitation. They spoke of standing on the shoulders of those who served before them . WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Shield, Desert Storm. All these conflicts were well represented by veterans in the audience.
The conference was broken into two segments with Hugh Roop of Pontiac speaking on his deployments to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Tom Hornstein of Pekin talked of activity he was involved with in the Umm Gudair oil fields. Khafji, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Charlie Suummers of Heyworth spoke on his time in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait followed by Adam Frantz of Macomb who talked on his tour in Iraq.
An impromptu presentation was given by Jose' Ruiz who talked on his service in the Middle East.
The second segment, concerning operations in Afghanistan, was well represented by five men from The Illinois National Guard. Cale Curley of Chenoa Illinois and Paul Anderson of Wood Dale spoke in tandem.They were stationed together in Afghanistan. Joseph Anderson (Paul's brother) of Wood Dale and Michael Kurdenok of Coal City completed the dais.
It was very moving to listen to these young men speak of sometimes horrific scenes and talk about their dedication to duty, their mutual respect for each other and their unquestionable loyalty and patriotism to the united states. These young men are the reason I can have hope for the future of this country. The great tradition of men in arms is carried forward by these men and countless thousands who risk their lives to serve you and I. Thank you all.
Thank a veteran. They deserve it. They love it!
