H
ometown eroes
ROCK VALLEY PUBLISHING 2020
HONORING ALL WHO SERVED
HOMETOWN HEROES
NOV. 2020
We Support Our Troops
and Thank the Veterans both Past & Present
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TRACTOR TOWN Machesney Park 11528 N. Second Street 815-633-2299
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Mayor Steve Johnson
Piasa Leather & Saddle
The officials and the citizens of Machesney Park thank those who have served and are now serving our great country in the armed forces.
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NOV. 2020
HOMETOWN HEROES
Page 3
Veterans Day: A celebration of service Veterans Day 2019 will be on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020. As a federal holiday Veterans Day is typically observed on November 11th every year. However, if it occurs on a Sunday then the following Monday is designated as the Federal holiday, and if it occurs on a Saturday then either Saturday or Friday may be designated. In times when the observance falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is designated as the Federal holiday. For years when the 11th is on a Saturday, either Friday or Saturday may be designated as the Federal recognition of Veterans Day. When the Federal holiday and November 11th dates are different, Veterans Day activities may take place on both days; many activities are often scheduled the weekend leading up to Veterans Day even during years when both dates match. The theme for the 2020 Veterans Day Poster is: “Honoring all who Served.” Veterans contribute to American society
in many ways; not just during their time in active duty. Throughout our history, military service members have put on their uniforms to protect the values and liberties that this nation was built on. But that doesn’t stop once the uniform comes off and their time in active duty has ended. Veterans take the lessons they have learned and the experiences they’ve gained and continue their service to our nation by strengthening our communities. They become our nation’s leaders, scientists, entrepreneurs. Veterans are the most active volunteers working to improve communities across our country. Service goes beyond the uniform. This Veterans Day, we honor the men and women who have worn their uniform who continue to serve our country.
About Veterans Day
Veterans Day is observed every year on November 11th. Veterans Day evolved from Armistice Day, which was proclaimed in 1919 by President Woodrow
Wilson. Armistice is when warring parties agree to stop fighting; Armistice Day recognizes the end of World War One when hostilities ceased on November 11th at 11 A.M, 1918 (11th hour, of the 11th, of the 11th month). According to the Department of Veterans Affairs official site on November 11th, 1947 Raymond Weeks, a World War II veteran, organized a “National Veterans Day” parade in Birmingham, Alabama to recognize veterans of all wars. This celebration may have helped influence Congress to change Armistice Day to Veterans Day in 1954 to recognize Veterans of all U.S. wars. Was the work of Raymond Weeks the first “official” or semi-official Veterans Day? The residents of Emporia, Kansas might disagree. According to the Emporia Conventional and Visitor Bureau official site, “In 1953 Veterans Day was organized and celebrated in Emporia, Kansas; one year prior to the first nationwide observance on November 11, 1954.”
Winnebago’s
Difference Between Veterans Day and Memorial Day
Memorial Day is for remembering and honoring military personnel who dies in the service of their country, particularly those who died in battle or as a result of a wound sustained in battle. Veterans Day is intended to thank all those who honorably served in the military – in war time or peace time.
Anthem Veterans Memorial: A Unique Place to Visit on Veterans Day
‘Flags Over ‘Bago’
The Anthem Veterans Memorial has five pillars that represent the five branches of the United States military. They are staggered in size and the military seal placements on each pillar are based upon the Department of Defense prescribed precedence, ranging from the United States Army, the United States Marine Corp, the United States Navy, the United States Air Force, and the United States Coast Guard. On Veterans Day as at precisely 11:11 a.m. on Veterans Day, November 11th, the sun’s rays will pass through each of the five pillars’ elliptical openings to illuminate a glass mosaic medallion of the Great Seal of the United States.
honors veterans Flag Day is celebrated on June 14. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777 by resolution of the Second Continental Congress. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14 as Flag Day; on Aug. 3, 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress. Charter Member Mary Gross shares the story of Flags Over ‘Bago. “On Flag Day 2009 my husband and I were riding our Harley through small towns that displayed flags along both sides of the street. We thought, ‘We could do that in Winnebago!’ “It took the help of many ideas and people to come up with Flags Over Bago. Thanks to Irv Koning and Ace Hardware, we got supplies, drilled 168 holes along Elida Street and buried PVC pipe every 50 feet. Warren Cunningham fitted all the flagpoles together and friends attached flags. There are 168 US flags, five flags of the military branches and a POW flag. Each flag was sold for $25 and the owner received a numbered certificate that matches a number on a flagpole. The flags have become the property of the Village of Winnebago and copies
President Dwight D. Eisenhower made November 11 the official national observance of Veterans Day after Kansas Congressman Ed Rees (who was from Emporia) proposed the bill in Congress to change Armistice Day to Veterans Day. The observance wasn’t always held on the 11th of the month; History.com reports that decades later in 1968, legislation known as the Uniform Holidays Bill was passed by Congress, moving Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October as of 1971. This didn’t last long; in 1975 President Gerald Ford returned the observance to November 11, due at least in part to the historic nature of the date.
Hometown Heroes of the certificates are kept at the Village Hall. The flags were first put up for Armed Forces Day in 2010. We fly the flags every year for Armed Forces th Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, 4 of July, Labor Day, Patriots Day, and Veterans Day. Volunteers put up and take down the flags; it takes four trucks and drivers and three people to handle the flags, We owe those volunteers a big thank you. Ever faithful Jim Calvert drives Elida Street twice a day when the flags are out and replaces them as needed. Donations to replace tattered flags are very welcome. They can be made at First National Bank in Winnebago through the Flags Over ‘Bago account. Volunteers are needed to help with putting up and taking down. Anyone interested can get in touch with me, and I’ll add them to our contact list.
Veterans Day 2020
The village of Winnebago continues it’s “Flags Over Bago” tradition of 11 years, honoring our Active Duty on Armed Forces Day and the veterans we have lost over the years on Memorial Day. MARY GROSS Hometown Heroes
A publication of Rock Valley Publishing LLC 1102 Ann St., Delavan, WI 53115
(262) 728-3411
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Vicki Vanderwerff FOR ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES: Call (262) 725-7701, ext. 134
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HOMETOWN HEROES
NOV. 2020
Remembering a hero: World War II Army Combat Medic, Arthur Evans
I
n honor of Veteran’s Day this year, I am submitting the story on my father, who was born in Chicago in 1913, who joined the Army in the summer of 1943 and went through basic training at Camp Grant, Rockford, Ill. They called him an old man, as he was 29 years old. He had a heart murmur, which almost kept him out of the Army, but somehow he got in. A good friend of his, also from Chicago, was killed in the battle of Attu in the Aleutian Islands (off Alaska, early in the war). This was kind of ironic, as my dad was sent off to Nome, Alaska for a year first, where he learned to hate the cold. He put a Snickers candy bar under his pillow one night and in the morning it was frozen solid. I have the letters he wrote to his mother and to my mom during the war. In one he mentions being on field maneuvers or some kind of a march, I believe in Missouri, and he saw a small dog that had been hit by a car. He picked the dog up and marched the duration holding the poor little thing till it died. He was always an animal lover. He was sent to Europe in the fall of 1944, arriving in Marseille, France. He said he liked Napoleon’s Tomb in Paris, as it was cool on a hot day. I believe he must have been part of the troops who refreshed troops during the Battle of the Bulge. In the Ardennes, he mentioned how cold it was and snowy and how scary it was to be on patrol at night, as they couldn’t make out the Germans in their long white coats. He also talked about how the flame-throwers were the worst thing he saw as they fried men alive. When his regiment was overrun, they had to leave all of their belongings behind. Unfortunately for my dad, that included his false teeth. They later captured some Germans, and one of them had my dad’s false teeth! He remembered being in France late in the war and how the French underground came to the town the Americans were in and took into custody an elderly couple that he said reminded him of his grandparents. The underground took the old couple into their back yard and shot them dead. Apparently, they had been collaborating with the Nazis. It made quite an impression on my father seeing that. Now to Jan. 9, 1945. That was the day of the HattenRittershofen Battle. By the end of the day, only a handful of buildings were left standing in Hatten, and over 500 Americans were dead. The shelling was fast and furious and my dad was on his way to a church a block away from the town’s railroad station (unknown to him, the rails were the Germans target that morning). The Catholic Church was where my father and his buddy, a medic from Chicago, had attended Mass the previous Sunday. On his way to the church, with all the shelling going on, my father was forced to hit the pavement (years later he said he could still see those cobblestones). At about the same time, the chaplain came running by and also hit the pavement. My dad took off his helmet and held it out to the chaplain, saying, “Would you like a cookie?” The chaplain said, “This is a Hell of a time to be eating cookies!” My dad responded, “May be the last ones we eat,” and they ate all the cookies. After a bit my dad was able to make his way to the church, which had been set up as an aid station. He was in the process of giving first aid at the back of the church to two captured German S.S. prisoners when a big shell hit the church. It killed the Germans and blew my dad from the back
to the front of the church where another buddy found him sitting in front of the communion rail, saying in an Irish accent (he wasn’t even Irish but grew up surrounded by Irish immigrants in Chicago), “To think I’d get hit in a church!” Many years afterward, my father said he could still hear those beautiful stained glass windows in the church as they shattered into pieces. My father’s buddy took him into the town to outside of a building being used for injured and told him to go in it and wait for an ambulance as my father had received a lot of shrapnel wounds, including having one of his big toes pretty much blown off (they sewed it back on crooked, by the way). A huge piece of shrapnel landed in the aid kit he wore at his waist, which saved his life. My father looked at the building and said, “I’ll just Corporal Art Evans, Waukegan, wait here,” when a shell hit Ill., June 1943. that building and blew it to SUBMITTED PHOTO Hometown Heroes smithereens. My dad was put into the last ambulance out of town that day before the Germans captured it. He was evacuated to an Army hospital in Surrey in England. His good friend from Chicago was killed that day in a town over. Also a medic, he ran down into the town square to give first aid to a young wounded German soldier, just a kid. When he reached the kid, the Germans opened fire and killed both of them. It was war. I know my dad was not afraid of being killed. Years later, my nephew got in touch with a former buddy of my father who was with him in Belgium. He explained that one night on patrol the soldiers could hear an American crying out who had been wounded. My dad, being a medic, decided to look for the man, even though his fellow comrades warned him it might be a trick. My dad replied, “I am good with God, I’ve made my peace and I am going.” It turned out that everything was okay as he was able to locate the man and give him aid. Headquarters 42D Infantry Division General Order Number 65 APO #411, U.S. Army, 20 May 1945. CITATION OF UNIT Under the provisions of Section IV, Circular Number 333, War Department, 22 December 1943, as amended, the 1st Battalion, 242d Infantry Regiment, is cited for extraordinary gallantry and outstanding performance of duty in action
See HERO, Page 5
NOV. 2020
• Hero
SUBMITTED PHOTO Hometown Heroes
Rockford veteran turns 100 years old Kaare (pronounced ‘Cory’) Nevdal of Rockford, Ill., turned 100 years young on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. Humble to his core... amazing to the end! Kaare was an honored guest of VetsRoll 10 in May of 2019 and was also one of our honored guests when he was taken up in a B-17 flight in July of 2019. Kaare was born and raised in Norway (near Bergen) and lived under the oppression of the Nazi occupation beginning in 1940, but escaped via fishing boat to England in 1941, leaving his mother and family behind. He had a burning desire to help save his beloved homeland, so he trained under the Royal Norwegian AF (in Canada) then became a radio operator and a gunner specialist in the Norwegian Air Force, flying on their enormous, all amphibious (no landing gear) Sunderland 4-engine
bombers (crews of 11+ men, complete with bunk beds, a galley and bathroom, capable of carrying over 3000 gallons of fuel on 14-hour patrols, with an armament of 18-guns!!) patrolling over the fjords of Norway. The Sunderlands would patrol over the coastlands of Norway harassing German U-Boats as they would come North to escape battles! His crew of ten would sweep down to ultra low altitudes and overtake the U-Boats, actually sinking one of them in May of 1944 from a height of just 50’ above the surface!! In the attachments is a heartwarming letter that he wrote to his mother on Christmas Eve, 1943, as they silently patrolled the coast, with a lonely and depressed Kaare so wanting to let his mother in Oslo know that he was still alive and protecting the homeland.
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(Continued from page 4)
against the enemy during the period 9-10 January 1945, inclusive, at and near Hatten, France.* *(Actually Belgium, not France) On the morning of 9 January 1945, the 1st Battalion was occupying a front of 4000 yards when three regiments from the 21st and 25th German Panzer Divisions, supported by heavy armor and artillery, attacked it. Ordered to hold its position at all cost, the Battalion withstood repeated onslaughts of enemy flamethrowing tanks, self-propelled guns, and infantry. Time after time small detachments of the Battalion remained steadfast after hostile tanks had overrun their positions in order to stop the foot troops that followed. Cooks, clerks, mail orderlies, medics, and supply personnel fought side by side with riflemen, completely disregarding their personal safety. In spite of the loss of over five hundred officers and men, the Battalion conspicuously held its position in the face of overwhelming odds for more than fifty-two hours until relieved, exacting a heavy toll of men and equipment from the enemy. The courage and devotion to duty shown by the members of the 1st Battalion, 242d Infantry Regiment, are worthy of emulation and exemplify the highest traditions of the Army of the United States. By command of Major General Collins The kind of man my father was: I want to insert a short story at this point. When my sister and I were between four and five years old we, along with our younger sister and our mother, were witness to an event that has always stayed in my memory. I have no recollection of where we had been but my dad was driving. It was in the late fall, early in the evening but dark out. The town we lived in at the time, Libertyville, north of Chicago is adjacent to Mundelein, Ill. We were on a highway that ran through both towns, and it was raining very heavily. As we came around a curve we saw a car turned over on its roof, the wheels still going so we arrived just after the accident occurred.
There was not a lot of traffic, thankfully, and my dad immediately pulled our car over to the side of the road. Having been a medic, he had a pretty good idea of what to do. My mother gave him some grief over even stopping, but that did not deter him The next thing I recall was seeing my dad standing on the top of the bottom of the car as he was trying to determine the next course of action. He got down and got one of the back doors of the car open. I will say he certainly had our attention. The next thing we saw was my father helping two children out of the back seat. The one little girl, maybe four years old seemed okay. The little boy, I would say about the age of six or seven, looked like he had been scalped and was bleeding profusely from the top of his head. My dad put the children in the back seat with my sisters and me. Apparently he could not get the parents out of the front seat, we were never told if they were even conscious but my dad had to get the children to a hospital and report the accident. This was in an area that was not heavily populated at that time, although I am sure it is different today. There were no businesses or lights from businesses nearby and I know my dad wanted to report the accident but was very concerned about the little boy and had to wait to call until we got to the hospital. It doesn’t seem to me (in my recollection) that it was all that far away from where the accident happened. As we rode to the hospital, I couldn’t help but look at the little boy’s head, I was very worried about him due to all the blood. I asked him if it hurt. He was being very brave, not crying or anything, and he told me, “No, it doesn’t hurt.” I do recall he was shaking a lot. He could very well have been in shock at that point. When we reached the hospital, personnel there took over, and my dad went off to make the phone call. I never found out what happened to the parents or how the children made out but to me, in my mind, my dad was a hero. He died in 1988.
Durand State Bank Honors our Hometown Heroes
! ou Y k n a Th
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From left - WWII Army combat Veteran Wally Sorensen (turns 100 in 2021) and Kaare’s best friend. D-Day medic and paratrooper Gene Kleindl (turns 100 in 2022) Kaare Nevdal (turned 100 Oct. 9)
HOMETOWN HEROES
815-248-2101 • www.DurandStateBank.com
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HOMETOWN HEROES
NOV. 2020
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We salute our first responders, military, veterans and all those who keep us safe!
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VA recognizes ‘Compensated Work Therapy Vocational Rehabilitation Week’ The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recognizes Compensated Work Therapy Vocational Rehabilitation Week, Oct. 1923, acknowledging the more than 1,000 VA Compensated Work Therapy (CWT) vocational rehabilitation counselors, managers and peer support specialists who provide services to more than 64,000 Veterans each year within the VA health care system. VA’s CWT services are integrated with clinical care to assist Veterans with serious mental illness, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, polytrauma and traumatic brain injury, substance use disorder, homelessness, and other psychological issues that may interfere with securing gainful employment. “Compensated Work Therapy vocational rehabilitation is vital in helping Veterans with a physical or mental illness overcome employment barriers and return to meaningful work,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “All of our Veterans deserve an opportunity to live a secure and stable lifestyle with their families — and the work of our CWT team is helping with that effort.” CWT programs are located at all VA medical facilities and aim to provide evidence-based and evidence-informed vocational rehabilitation services to Veterans while developing partnerships with local, regional and national businesses; industry and government agencies that provide Veteran candidates for employment. VA’s CWT staff works to assist these organizations and potential employers with hiring the right Veteran in the right job at the right pay. Local VA CWT staff are being acknowledged at their respective medical centers and several will be recognized for the annual Dr. Jackie Bethany Leadership Awards for Compensated Work Therapy Excellence through virtual presentations with the individual facilities. Learn more about VA’s CWT or email psrhq@med.va.gov with questions.
NOV. 2020
HOMETOWN HEROES
VetsRoll was established by the Finnegans in 2010
T
his year’s VetsRoll trip for 220 veterans to visit the memorials in Washington DC is slated for May 23-26, 2021. VetsRoll.org was conceived on Feb. 1, 2010 by John (spouse-Kimberly) and Mark (spouse-Darlene) Finnegan, coowners of Finnegans’ RV Center, inc. in South Beloit, Ill. Finnegans’ RV Center was formed in 1969 by their parents, Cy and Barbara Finnegan. Cy was born in Litchfield, Minn. and was a WWII Navy Veteran (MM3) in the South Pacific Philippine Theater. Sadly, Cy lost a long and brutal battle to cancer in January of 2000; never having the opportunity to view the memorial that was built in honor of the WWII generation. Barbara is a lifetime resident of Beloit and worked as an Army Signal Corps civilian office employee as a de-coder for the War Department in Arlington, VA. She later worked as a wiring cable lacer at Jorgensen Engineering in Beloit until the end of the war. Barbara was treated as a ‘Rosiethe-Riveter’ (the mostly women who went into the work force during WWII to allow more men to head overseas; keeping our factories running at capacity and indirectly leading to the Allied victory because we wore down the enemy) with the VetsRoll group. Cy and Barbara met while Cy was attending a Fairbanks Morse Naval engine training school during the war and were married shortly after the war. Together, they raised 8 children (seven sons and one daughter) and actually endured the four eldest boys being in the service during the Vietnam War, although they all came home safely. They were married for 53-1/2 years, until Cy succumbed to cancer. Barbara still resides in the family home on Shopiere Road in Beloit. After Cy’s passing, John and Mark carried on the ownership of the family business, but always longed for a memorable way to pay eternal tribute to their parents’ generation…’The Greatest Generation.’ In September of 2009, the Finnegans were contacted by ABC-TV’s Extreme Makeover- Home Edition and supplied RVs for the cast to stay in during a build in Northwest IL. After learning of the need for the show’s subject family,
the Finnegans decided to do a very quick fundraiser for the Stott family and raised more than $11,000 in just under five days! That experience, at the start of the current recession, showed the Finnegans that if the cause is right, people will still give from their hearts. A short time later, John and Mark learned of the wonderful Honor Flight Network that raises money to charter commercial aircraft on one day, round trip flights to fly WWII Veterans to Washington, DC at no cost to the Veterans. The Honor Flight program has ‘hubs’ located throughout America and has given America’s greatest heroes the opportunity to see their memorials before it’s too late. In 2010, the average age of a WWII Era Veteran was now in the mid to late 80s; time was NOT on their side. Sadly, it is estimated that this group of heroes is passing away at the alarming rate of 1,000 each day! The Honor Flights have flown tens of thousands of these heroes to Washington, but the Finnegans’ believed the 18-20 hour days are quite long on someone of their age. Perhaps they could offer an alternative! John and Mark felt they had finally received their calling and began calculating the logistics and expenses of offering a similar program to the WWII Veterans. Since the Finnegans’ are in the RV motorhome rental business, John and Mark looked at doing a 4-day trip by combination of charter buses and motorhomes. They shared their ideas with several others in their circle of contacts and kicked off VetsRoll.org on March 17th, 2010, just 60 days before their planned departure of May 17-20, 2010. Veterans and volunteers began to sign-up and the donations started to come in and in just 60 days, VetsRoll. org had raised more than $90,000 to successfully schedule a caravan of nine motorhomes, three charter coaches and a support van, carrying 125 WWII Veterans and ‘Rosies.’ Originally thought to be a ‘one-anddone’ venture, demand for subsequent trips continued and the all important donations kept coming and on May 16-19, 2011 VetsRoll 2 was carried out successfully with 200 Veterans (now including the Korean Era Veterans, along with the WWII and ‘Rosies’) and 100 assistants on board 10 charter
coaches, with a media coach and a wheelchair lift-equipped support van. This second trip was also a monumental success and in late August of 2011, the Walworth County Fair in Elkhorn (Wisconsin’s largest county fair) chose VetsRoll, Inc.® as their preferred charity and VetsRoll, Inc.® was able to raise more than $15,000 at that one event! The Walworth County Fair has continued to select VetsRoll, Inc., as their charity every year since 2011 and this single fundraiser is annually one of the largest for VetsRoll, Inc.! Beginning in 2012, the Culver’s restaurant in Beloit, Wis. initiated a Veteran’s Day Program to honor America’s Veterans and to help support
VetsRoll, Inc. That single event has grown to include more than 30 Culver’s restaurants in Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois annually raising donations to support VetsRoll, Inc.® during Veteran’s Day Week each November. Annually, local fundraisers raise significant funds to allow VetsRoll, Inc.® to continue its mission and in 2017, the Tavern League of Wisconsin and its 5,000 members began statewide fundraisers to support the VetsRoll Program, continuing to this day. Each year, 200 more WWII and Korean Era Veterans and ‘Rosies-theRiveters’ are treated to this trip; all at zero expense to the participants! Thank you!
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HOMETOWN HEROES
NOV. 2020
Thinking, Creating Reflecting the future.
Our teachers, staff, parents, and students are heroes for helping us make school happen in-person and at home in this exceptional time!
Special thanks to above and beyond heroes Melissa Prete and Marci Hallgren. We couldn’t do it without you.
Seats available in preschool, 2nd, and 5th grade. Call 815-877-1600 for more information A school for who you are, an education for who you want to be.
www.spectrumschool.org
815.877.1600
4848 Turner Street, Rockford, IL 61107 383367
Land of the free because of the brave
City of Loves Park “The City with a Heart” 100 Heart Boulevard, Loves Park, IL 61111 • 815-654-5030
359037
Mayor Jury, Loves Park City Staff and Alderman honor all Park Area Veterans and say “thank you” to all our heroes on VETERAN’S DAY.