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Show HILLTOP TIMES VETERANS STAND DOWN PARADE From page 1 Team Hill pitched in for an event Nov. 7 at the George E. Wahlen Department of Veteran Affairs Medical Center in Salt Lake City. Right, Senior Airman Amanda Daniels (left) and Senior Airman Christi Daniels, both of the 75th Air Base Wing Force Support Squadron, sort through clothes according to size for distribution to homeless veterans who would need them, JAMES ARROWOODAJ.S. Air Force Above, Master Sgt. Lawrence Williams (right), 388th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, and Airman 1st Class William Sovitsky, 729th Aircraft Control Squadron, stack duffle bags into bins as they help with preparations for the event. Left, Tech. Sgt. Knodel (second from left), 75th Logistics Readiness Squadron, plates up food for a veteran. Lt. Kathleen O'Connor (middle), 388th Equipment Maintenance Squadron and Lt. Ryan O'Connor, 505th Combat Sustainment Squadron, help serve breakfast to homeless veterans. £*7l'£ .•:*->*? %• 'toL' \ -•'.-& t ...^. >.i- «•- •¥ VETERANS •. • • i From page 1 TIMES November 13, 2008 .4 But Sergeant Dufresne is still in his prime earning years from a civilian perspective. He and countless veterans like him bring to the reserve some of its greatest experience and continuity. Sergeant Dufresne served in the Gulf War with the 388th Fighter Wing from August 1990 to May 1991, spending much of that time building bombs for four fighter squadrons' worth of jets. "I gained a wide range of experience doing my job," Sergeant Dufresne said. "We were short-handed, which helped my experience in the reserve, especially when [the Air Force] started doing more with less. It was a career-broadening experience. Instead of doing one U.S. Air Force thing, I did multiple tasks." Lt. Col. Michael Doyle, a physician assistant in the "Since reservists are only out here 419th Medical Squadron and a Vietnam veteran, one weekend a month plus your 15 days, that's not very many days to have reviews paperwork during the wing's November unit training assembly. Doyle joined the Air Force hands-on training," he said. "If you serve active duty for six or seven years, Reserve after the Sept. 11 attacks of 2001. you have all that extra time doing the same job over and over, so your experi15 years and was stationed in Qatar from ence ends up larger and wider-based." August 1990 to March 1991 flying F-16s over "Experience counts a bunch and I think Iraq. While there, he flew 33 missions and that's kind of where we hang our hat," said logged nearly 110 flying hours. Lt. Col. Bill Lyons, 419th Operations Group "All of our people are doing it because commander and Gulf War veteran. 1(We have they want to serve in their unit/' he said. people in the reserve who have been doing "They aren't doing it for the money. So you this for a long time. Tb maintain that experi- have got people with a desire to serve and ence level allows for a solid foundation as continue the mission. They use that desire to the active duty cycles people through on the teach or train the new people coming in." assignment process." Lt. Col. Michael Doyle of the 419th MediColonel Lyons served on active duty for cal Squadron is someone with that desire. SENIOR AIRMAN BROK McCARTHY/U.S. Air Force Col. Linda Medler, 75th Air Base Wing commander, addresses the crowd assembled at Lindquist Field after the end of the Veterans Parade in Ogden as Gov. Jon Huntsman stands to one side. Colonel Doyle joined the Navy at age 18 and served almost a year in Vietnam. He commissioned as a captain in the Air Force Reserve after the Sept. 11 attacks of 2001. His training in the Navy allowed him to better train Air Force medical technicians, he said "Active Duty brings to the reserve an understanding of giving your full-time efforts to the mission and the importance it plays in the protection and safety or our families and our country," Colonel Doyle said. "We are serving something greater than ourselves and doing it for others." veteran. Since 2006, the parade has outgrown its original route down 25th Street, and participants marched Nov. 8 down Washington Boulevard to Lindquist Field, where a rally was held. "They all make me so proud — such brave young men and women,'1 said Cheryl Tolson, who came to cheer on her daughter, Kimber Tblson, a reservist who has fought in Bosnia and twice in Iraq. "They keep our country going." Cheryl Tblson was visiting from Colorado, but said she grew up in Ogden and remembers watching her dad march in Veterans Day celebrations as a World Wai' II veteran. "I used to march in these when I was little," she said. Spouses, children, parents and siblings cheered loudly for the men and women they knew from Hill Air Force Base, Weber State's ROTC, local American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars chapters, high school JROTC programs, reserve groups and other military-related organizations — a reminder Veterans Day doesn't just honor those who have served, but who are currently serving. Huntsman and Ogden Mayor Matthew Godfrey were part of Saturday's celebration. Godfrey told the crowd that from veterans "we learn what it really means to sacrifice something." Huntsman invited the crowd to use the "two greatest words in the English language" as they observe Veterans Day — thank you. t( We enjoy the circumstances we do, as imperfect as they may seem at times, because of the generations who have come before us," Huntsman said. "I know we have some of the 'greatest generation' with us today, but I have been to Baghdad, and there is another 'greatest generation' coming up." The sunny weather and growing awareness of the event brought many veterans and their families to the parade and rally for the first time, as well as some who have been involved since the parade began again in 2006. "This has been a very organized event. They've put in a lot of time, work and pride," said Syracuse resident Larry Kerr, a Vietnam veteran who served in the Air Force. "I like the military customs, the honor guards — letting veterans know they're welcome and saying thank you." "Veterans Day has always been a special day for me because it's my father's birthday, and he was killed in World War II, so I never knew him," said Judy Lewis. Her father was shot down over Germany. Davis is now heavily involved with the American Legion, along with her husband, Byron, who serves as the Legion's state chaplain. Byron Lewis served in the Marines for more than nine years and fought in the Korean War. He said the camraderie he feels with other veterans is the best part of events like the one held Nov. 8. "(We're here) to remember those that gave their lives " he said Event organizers said plans are already in place for a similar event next year on Nov. 7. "Sometimes it's really emotional. You remember the good times from when you served, but you also remember the friends you lost in combat," Howland said. "You do these things to make sure they're never forgotten." |