Happy Veterans Day! Thank you to those who are serving or who have served our country. We asked readers to send in pictures and stories about veterans in your life. Below is what we have received so far. Feel free to email us at tips@myballard.com:
Robert Campbell and granddaughter Liz Talley
“My favorite veteran and the rest of my family are getting together to celebrate his 96th birthday this weekend. His name is Robert Campbell he is my grandpa and is a retired lieutenant colonel in the Army. His secret to a happy life s being busy, staying involved and being a good listener. He has some amazing stories, as you can imagine, but Grandpa is as interested in the people he met last week as he is in those he stood with in his military service. He is a very lucky guy,” Liz writes.
“A tribute to David, one of the 234 young Americans who died in three days of fighting in LZ- Xray & Albany, November 1965, in The Valley Of Death, the Ia Drang. Lest we forget our fallen heroes, those who gave the last measure of devotion. May their souls’ be cradled in The Arms Of The Lord Forever.
In November of 1965 the Army mortuary in Oakland CA was in urgent need of volunteers to escort the bodies of those killed in the Ia Drang valley in Viet Nam. I volunteered and was assigned the body of David Vancellette. I arrived at Oxford MA with David and immediately went to the home of his parents, knocking on that door was the hardest part of my military service, it was nothing in comparison to the valor of the men of the First Cav,” writes Bill Griffith.
“My grandfather served in World War II in the Air Force. Like three of his brothers, he was a pilot. His fourth brother was a ground crewman, also in the Air Force. All five brothers grew up on a farm in rural Michigan and signed up shortly after the US entered the war. After two years in training, Grandpa flew B-24 bombers over southern Europe from bases in Italy, hitting targets from factories in Austria to oil refineries in Romania. He earned a Distinguished Flying Cross for bringing his plane home on three engines after one had been taken out by flak. It wasn’t supposed to be possible to fly that far with an engine out, but he did what he had to do to get his crew home safe. One of my treasured memories with Grandpa was taking him to the Museum of Flight, where he could show us most of the planes he flew,” writes Eric.
