BY DAN HILDEBRAN
One of the speakers at the American Legion’s Salute to Heroes ceremony at the Keystone Heights Theme Park said Veterans Day is a time to thank service members and appreciate their families.
Marine Veteran and Post 202 member Chip Nilsen said citizens should thank the wives, parents, and children of service members because they suffer long periods without their loved ones.
“Without my wife,” he said, “without the people at home taking care of things here at home, you never would’ve been able to do it.”
Nilsen served in the Marines from 1980 to 2001, serving in Haiti, Somalia, the Persian Gulf, Bosnia, Albania, and Kosovo.
He told the crowd that in 1880, his great-grandfather came to the U.S. from Germany and joined the Army, serving in the Spanish-American War.
The speaker also recounted relatives who fought in both World Wars, Korea and Vietnam. He added that one uncle did not return from Southeast Asia.
Mayor Nina Rodenroth, Army veteran Jim Harland, AMVETS Post 86 Commander John Givens, Post 202 Commander George Owen, and Mike Plummer of Post 202 also spoke at the event.
