Returning soldiers honored at fair, ceremony
Staff reporter
A ceremony befitting true hometown heroes who recently returned from Iraq was given to four soldiers July 25 at American Legion Post 366, Hillsboro.
Spc. Peter Richert of Hillsboro, Spc. Simon Makovec of Ramona, Spc. Jeffrey Linn and Spc. Zachary Linn, both of Newton, were recognized at the Marion County Fair Parade prior to the ceremony at the Legion post.
A packed house heard Major Dana Duggins of the Kansas Adjunct General's Office, thank the soldiers for a "job well done." He continued that the soldiers were fighting for their families and homeland which makes it all worth the fight.
Lt. Col. Timothy Marlar, commander of the field artillery unit of which the Kansas Army National Guard unit was a part, had one of the more poignant moments of the ceremony.
Overcome with emotion, the officer paused for a moment before continuing.
"The first person I saw was Peter," Marlar said. As a result of Richert's wounds, his right leg was amputated."Peter said, 'I was at the right place at the right time. I have no regrets.'"
Marlar said this kind of attitude was the reason "this battle is going to be won.
"I'm proud to have been a part of their training and proud of the job that they've done," he said.
This Kansas National Guard unit, Battery B, 1st Battalion, 161st Field Artillery Unit, was the most decorated unit in Kansas National Guard history and was the longest deployed unit in National Guard history since WWII.
Another memorable moment prior to the presentation of flags to the soldiers was when Betty Jean Pulliam of Haysville took the podium.
Pulliam, former national president of American Gold Star Mothers and currently the Kansas department chapter, said the organization was created in 1928 for mothers whose sons or daughters were killed while serving their country.
Services flags were created and families displayed them with a blue star when their child was in the service. When a child died in the service, a gold star almost covering the blue star was displayed. Mothers of slain servicemen became known as gold star mothers.
"There are two defining forces who have offered to die for you — Jesus Christ and the American GI,"
There was a time when the membership had dwindled down because many of the mothers of soldiers from the Vietnam war were aging. Today the organization is 1,175 members strong which is not what Pulliam wanted to see.
"I wanted the organization to fade into extinction," Pulliam said, and didn't want any more mothers to become members.
Pulliam's son, Marine Lance Cpl. Dale Alan Pulliam was killed on Mothers Day, 1967, during the Vietnam War. He was 21 years old.
"Soldiers have served and died so this world might be a better place," she concluded.
Members of the Hillsboro American Legion Riders then presented flags, pins, and certificates to the soldiers.
