The seats filled early at the community center. Families, Scouts, and neighbors came to listen, not just attend.
The City of Palos Hills held its Veterans Day ceremony Tuesday, Nov. 11, at 6 p.m. with a focus on Vietnam veterans. On the 50th anniversary of the war’s end, the city gave them the floor and the respect long overdue.
Army medic George Ahern said he was drafted at 19 in April 1969 and sent to Vietnam with the 1st Cavalry Division. Holding his discharge papers, he talked about how it started.
“I got a letter from my Uncle Sam,” he said. “I didn’t know I had one.”
He described jungle heat, carrying supplies, and the simple rule that stayed with him. “Every man carried his own bandage,” he said. “That’s the reality. You hoped you’d never have to use it.”
Ahern paused when he mentioned the attack on his firebase on April 1, 1970. “They dropped about 300 rockets on us,” he said. “We lost people that day. I was lucky. I came home, but I was changed.”
He said quietly, “I left home a child and came home a man.”
Dan Piantek, who served with the 101st Airborne Division, was drafted at 18. He talked about moving artillery shells through the heat and sleeping beside the guns.
“One day, the vibration lifted a five-ton truck a foot off the ground and dropped it,” he said. “We slept in that truck that night.”
He said they didn’t think about anything except getting through it. “We just did what we were told,” he said.
Jim Kruse, a retired Army veteran who runs Kruse’s Krew and hosts a local TV show interviewing veterans, spoke about the difference between then and now.
“There was a time when we wore our uniforms and Americans did not appreciate the effort,” he said. “Fifty-three thousand three hundred eighteen of our brothers and sisters did not make it back.”
He asked the Vietnam veterans in the audience to stand. They did, slowly, as the crowd applauded. Then he called Mayor Gerald R. Bennett forward and pinned a small wreath-and-flag emblem on his lapel.
“I give this to all of my guests,” Kruse said. “It celebrates bravery and the flag we served and would have died for.”
Bennett thanked him, calling it an honor to stand with the veterans that night.
The evening began with the John Whiteside Ceremonial Color Guard and the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery Memorial Squad presenting the flags. Bagpiper Wayne Hoefler played “God Bless America.” Cub Scout Pack 3668 led the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Sacred Heart Church ensemble performed the National Anthem.
Deacon Thomas Rzendzian offered a blessing for all who served, asking for healing and peace.
Jerry Hoenig, who served in the Air National Guard, recited a poem titled “I Am a Veteran,” which he credited to Andrea Brett, a Branson, Missouri writer who honors veterans through her work.
The words filled the room:
“You may not know me the first time we meet.
I’m just another you see on the street.
But I am the reason you walk and breathe free.
I am the reason for your liberty.”
Girl Scout Troop 55857 read thank-you notes they had written for the veterans: “Thank you for keeping us safe. Thank you for protecting our freedoms.”
The Color Guard demonstrated the 13 folds of the flag.
Mayor Bennett thanked the veterans and their families.
“To survive that kind of war and still come home to live a life, that’s courage,” he said. “You came home, built families, and helped your communities. You showed what real strength looks like.”
He said the country still has a responsibility to its veterans. “We will always remember and never forget what you’ve done,” he said. “This nation is stronger because of you.”
After “Taps,” “America the Beautiful,” and “Amazing Grace,” people lingered. Veterans shook hands with Scouts and neighbors, the unspoken words of their service finally heard and, at last, received.
