My favorite city of Aurora annual sponsored event occurred near the GAR Memorial Hall and Museum downtown on a recent beautiful fall morning.
The full Veterans Day parade and ceremonies of remembrance were held outdoors for the first time since 2018 on Nov. 11, and they did not disappoint. All of our area veterans, living and deceased, were recognized with full military pomp and honor. As always, it filled our collective hearts with gratitude and pride. If you have never attended, you have missed out on something impressive in its quiet salute to our many heroes.
I was not able to connect one-on-one for an interview with a veteran as I have over the past many years. Those past interviews have all been inspirational to me as I listened to stories of the service of men and women from all branches of the military.
Memories of those meetings from past Veterans Days and Memorial Days filled my mind as I left downtown that day. As I checked further, I found that I had written stories of 21 men and women over the course of 17 years as a freelancer with the Sun-Times and then the Tribune media groups.
U.S. Navy veterans whom I met included Master Chiefs George Allen and Ken Mrnak, Bob Moga, Dick Schreul, Phil Campbell and Lt. Eneke Smith.
Ron Schopp, Lt. Darnetta Jones and Col. Janeen Marshall-Gatling are U.S. Army veterans who shared their stories with me. Marshall-Gatling is still active and served in the war in Afghanistan.
Korean War veterans Rich Gaffino and Sgt. Major Walter Schroeder shared their “forgotten war” stories, which were tales of extreme heroism even though they didn’t label them as such. Schroeder was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star and the Korean Service Ribbon with five battle stars.
Because my father served heroically during World War II in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and Germany, I felt the most humbled and honored to interview seven World War II veterans, and also the family members of an additional three, and to share their truly amazing stories. They were, quite simply, the best stories I’ve ever tried to tell.
I was privileged to serve on the same teaching faculty with Lloyd Gannegan and G. Edward Nelson. Gannegan was awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star for gallantry in the Pacific Theater for “charging a machine gun position alone and destroying it, which inspired the men of his platoon as they took over the enemy positions.” Nelson enlisted in the Marines at 17 and cleared Pacific islands of enemy combatants before continuing to serve in China.
Dick Miller and Olaf Gjovik each enlisted in the U.S. Navy, Miller at the age of 17. Stationed on Midway Island, Gjovik serviced submarines as they came in from patrol. Miller was aboard the USS Drexler which was hit twice by enemy kamikaze planes and sank in under one minute. He survived in the burning ocean and was injured, but never put in for any medals as he couldn’t bring himself to take anything after so many of his mates were lost.
Delmar Gerth was drafted and ordered to the front line in France. The war soon ended thereafter, but Gerth “witnessed the devastation and ravages of war and what it does to the human body.” Harold Ray enlisted in the Marines in 1942, and served in New Caledonia and “onto so many islands that is was hard to remember.” He landed on Okinawa and remembered leaving his ship by going down ropes to a landing boat.
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John Giartonia, having volunteered as a paratrooper, landed at Normandy shortly after the Allied invasion. He fought in two battles, one of which saw him parachute at night behind enemy lines near the Rhine River. Ron Olson landed at Omaha Beach 10 days after D-Day. He served until the war ended in 1945, was wounded twice, and received the Purple Heart as well as the Bronze Star for extreme heroism. He attended seminary after the war, and served as a missionary in South America for 35 years.
Having emigrated from Mexico, Jenaro “Jerry” Cisneros was drafted at age 18 before he even became an American citizen. He remembered his unit engaging in street fighting, searching for snipers and handling German SS prisoners. He was in the second wave to liberate concentration camps.
Robert Olson joined the National Guard at age 17, lying about his age to do so. He went through Normandy about a week after D-Day. He was injured by an exploding mortar round, and taken to a field hospital. He returned to action the same day, and was eventually awarded the Purple Heart. He was also awarded the Bronze Star for heroic service in a combat zone and five campaign stars.
These World War II veterans were ordinary Americans, but became extraordinary heroes when their country needed them the most. I would never choose a favorite because of the amazing courage, selflessness and sacrifice common to all of them. But I will never forget the thoughts offered by some.
“We saw bodies and the ovens at Dachau concentration camp and witnessed huge mass burials,” Cisneros said. “People don’t appreciate this country until they’ve seen something like that. There is no other land like this one. We are so fortunate and have more than we deserve.”
Remembering his lost ship and shipmates, Miller offered that “if you see a sailor hanging dead over a gun turret, it’s hard for me to comprehend that someone wouldn’t be patriotic.”
Ron Olson commented on his military service and subsequent life as a missionary by saying “if my country could take my life and use it, then how much more God had a right to my life. It’s been a wonderful walk with God and He has never let me down.”
It has been one of the great privileges of my life to meet so many heroes and try to tell their stories. The United States of America which we all love would not and could not exist as we know it without their courage and sacrifice. Our heroes walked among us, and some still do. They are patriotic and humble, most of them rarely talking about their service. They are devoted to God and to helping others.
At the 2016 Veterans Day ceremonies, East Aurora High School Naval ROTC student Vincent Delao gave a wonderful closing comment to this story — wisdom from such a young person.
“I can only keep saying ‘thank you’ to them,” Delao said. “There are so many men and women who have given their lives for us to be safe at home. Whatever age they are, we can only thank them. They have kept America great.”
Tom Strong is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.