A department head had threatened to resign, saying he could not "watch one more body be carried out."īut Williams wasn't seeking pandemic relief. He said his hospital, Labette Health, was "like a war zone," inundated with unvaccinated patients. "I do not intend to add to your burden," said Brian Williams, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and Desert Storm combat veteran. In early July, as the covid-19 pandemic slammed rural America, the president of a small Kansas hospital sat down on a Friday afternoon and wrote the president of the United States to plead for help. Chapel member Bill Evanko came dressed in his Navy whites that he wore from 1971 to 1977.Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc. Church members attended with their families, but there were several veterans in the audience as well. Vocal duo Siren Song performed a slate of operatic and patriotic songs to an audience of about 70 people. Veterans Day ended on Longboat Key with a concert at Longboat Island Chapel. “I forgot so much that as I read back through my notes, more stuff came on, more things came up.” Longboat Island Chapel “Once I got into writing I was enjoying what I was doing, and I felt it was important,” Palmeri said. He started writing notes, then more notes, then it piled up and he really began writing the book. However, as he got older, he realized he wanted his children to have what he never did - a history of the family. Even after they saw it, Palmeri said the refrain amongst the 42nd was, “I can’t believe it.”įor years, Palmeri didn’t discuss much of his time at war. Palmeri walked through the camp with his fellow soldiers tasked with liberating those who were still alive. I thought he was exaggerating … I went three days later and as we approached in the open air Jeep, you can smell a terrible terrible odor. I'm going to see something … there's something like a concentration camp,’” Palmeri said. “We're in Munich and the master sergeant in our group came to me and said, ‘I want you to watch things going on around here because I'm leaving. They found 32,000 prisoners and scores of people who had already died. The 45th engaged the Waffen SS soldiers while the 42nd went to the gates of Dachau. “Elements of the 45th, which was north, the 42nd, which was to the middle and elements of the Third Army, were all converging towards Munich, and they are all headed right towards Dachau.” “As the war was winding down, the Allied armies were all racing towards Munich because it was feared that if the remnants of the German army was able to get through Munich, they would break into the hills where they would live to fight another day,” Coursen said. It quickly overfilled and became the concentration camp. It was known for its school of art before Heinrich Himmler became police chief in Munich and began imprisoning his and Hitler’s political enemies in a Waffen SS compound in Dachau. On Veterans Day, he gave a presentation with his editor, Liz Coursen.Ĭoursen began the presentation with the history of Dachau, a village northwest of Munich. The 95-year-old published a book, “Boy Solder: Recollections of World War II” in 2019. Though the number of veterans who can deliver first-hand accounts of World War II is diminishing, Longboat Key resident and World War II veteran Chuck Palmeri made sure his story will stick around. "It's nice to see and recognize other people like myself that I've known before and after I came here," Air Force veteran Allen Jennings said. “I think it’s always nice to be rewarded, congratulated, thanked for the time you spent,” Van Arsdale said.įour volunteers went into the audience to pin veterans who could not walk to the stage, and each veteran was thanked and saluted after the pin was secured to their lapel. She never saw conflict during World War II, but held the title of ensign, was in the WAVES for a little under two years and received a pin on Nov. Sallie Van Arsdale was in the September 1944 class of the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, better known as the WAVES. Plymouth Harbor residents have served in every conflict from World War II to the Korean War to Operation Desert Storm. Gary Olsen receives a pin from Terry Purcell.
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