SIDNEY — A group of family and friends met Monday evening to complete the cycle of the Shelby County Vets to DC mission. The dinner was held at the Veterans of Foreign War Post in Sidney.
“It’s great to see you all,” said Jim Hall, one of the committee members. “You all look great. We started our as veterans and people we didn’t know. Now we’re all friends.”
Mike Bennett and Jody Prater, co-chairman of the Vets to DC committee, told the group that it was because of teamwork that the trips are successful.
“Jody gets started working with the applications,” said Bennett. “Once they are all in, she makes sure everything is all there and then she gives them to me.”
“No one does more than anyone else in the organization,” said Mrs. Prater. “Mike is the no. 1 organizer. Our nurses are outstanding.”
Each volunteer, she said, has a job to do and it gets accomplished.
“American veterans, we honor you. The biggest thank you goes to you for what you do for us,” said Mrs. Prater.
Mrs. Prater recalled attending a Fourth of July parade when she was young. Everyone stood when the American flag went by. When a group of veterans walked by, her father pulled her up and told her to “give the veteran the same respect you do the flag.”
Each veteran who went on the 11th trip to Washington, D.C., to see the memorials built in their honor received a book and DVDs.
“All the books and DVDs from the trips are at the Shelby County Historical Society,” said Bennett. “If there are no more trips, the group photos will also go there.”
Bennett thanked the Spot restaurant for providing the lunch on the Friday leg of the trip on Sept. 18. Greg and Lori Billing prepared a barbecue chicken dinner for the send off meal on Sept. 14. The VFW and Auxiliary provided the meal for Monday’s dinner.
Bennett talked about the organization was started by Ray Prater.
“Ray went on the Miami County trip,” said Bennett. “He came back and said ‘we can do that and do it better.’ The first meeting was held in January and it was 10 below. Tom Francis wrote us a check for $3,000 to help get it started. Tom will be elected into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame on Nov. 5.
“Ray has been instrumental in keeping an eye on it (troops) and making sure we’re doing it all right,” said Bennett.
Ray Prater told the group he never had the chance to accompany his father on a trip to D.C. His father was a POW during World War II and was in the Bataan Death March in the Philippines. He passed away in 1990.
“I never told him how proud I was of him because of the anger he had inside him,” said Prater.
Prater, who is a member of the Shelby County Woodcarvers, along with several other volunteers, judged the canes the veterans had decorated since their trip to D.C. The canes were presented to the veterans at the send off dinner in September. Gary Gennis won a 22-piece barbecue set for having the best decorated cane.
A story was shared by Velma Wehrl, who gave Bennett a photo of a duck pecking at the feet of Richard Etzkorn during the visit to the World War II Memorial. Etzkorn was sitting in a wheelchair and the duck saw all the red shirts and said, “quack, quack, quack,” which Wehrl translated into “Thank you for your service. I got to be a duck in DC because of veterans like you.”
“We have enjoyed having you on the trip,” said Bennett. “You have become part of our family. Please pass your stories onto your sons and daughters; onto your grandsons and granddaughters. And yes some of you, onto your great-grandsons and great-granddaughters.
“Let them know what you did. Let them know what you stand for,” he said. “They need to know why you would give your life for the guy in the foxhole next to you.”
More than 1,000 veterans, caregivers and volunteers have traveled to D.C. as part of the Shelby County Vets to D.C. mission.
The volunteers will be meeting in November to determine if there will be a 12th trip to see the memorials.
