Veterans: One big family

WASILLA — Wednesday will mark the 90th year of observing veterans’ duty since President Woodrow Wilson made Nov. 11 Armistice Day in 1919. The day would become a national holiday in 1926 and was later renamed Veterans Day in 1954 to honor all living and dead veterans.

For most Americans, Veterans Day is time to remember, honor, and respect the men and women who have given their time, energy, and lives to work in military. Honoring these men and women is a task that many simply have become to busy or sidetracked to do.

For the veterans at Wasilla’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 9365, no veteran will be forgotten Wednesday. The 800 hundred men and women at the VFW work hard too honor all that have served.

“Veterans Day is always a special day for us. Men and women come out to celebrate and honor all the veterans,” said John Schwult.

Schwult is a Korean War veteran, a 50-year member of the VFW, and the director of the wall of honor for Wasilla’s post.

Coming from a long line of military men, Schwult’s father and five uncles all served in War World II, it was an easy decision for him to enlist when he turned 18.

“What I took from my experience in the military was education,” he said. “I learned how to interact with people from all over the U.S., and we all learned to respect each other. I never saw a man put coffee on his cereal till I entered the service,” he said laughing.

Friendships and bonds seem like running themes for most veterans at the post.

Ed Manning, a Marine who served in Vietnam, reflects fondly of his time served.

“My time in was some of the best memories I ever had.”

Manning used his G.I. Bill to help put him through college and eventually medical school. He enlisted when he was only 17.

“When I signed up they would allow you to join the summer before you turned 18, so I did. A lot of the kids did not have a formal education, but for the most part they were pretty good guys. We formed a sense of camaraderie, we had to watch out for each other.”   

Both men are active in the post’s community programs that Schwult figures to have helped give at least $50,000 to $70,000 back to the community. “It is important to us, a lot of family work is done here,” Schwult said.

Families are one thing VFW member Todd Pantode would like to see more of at the post. Originally from New York and serving in Iraq with the Army National Guard, Pantode stresses the closeness of the members at the post.

“The VFW is a safe place, everyone here shares a common experience, a common bond. It really is like an extension of your family,” he said.

“Hopefully a lot of the younger guys will come out here, you can learn a lot from the older guys.”

Pantode believes a lot of veterans can be deterred from joining the VFW by intimidation. Explaining his point, “You walk through the doors and you see all the older guys who have served in Vietnam or Korea and it makes you wonder what you have done. But once you get to know them all, they are all just like you, just family.”

The VFW post in Wasilla will honor veterans Wednesday from 1 to 3 p.m. The VFW is at 301 E. Lake View Ave.