It started when we listened to the list of 100 or more veterans names being read each year, wondering who all of these folks were. Growing up in the area I knew some of them, but many were just names.
I decided, with the help of SELHS, to pick a veteran each year to recognize with more than just a name. We research a veteran with the help of the family and create a booklet to hand out at the program. When the reader of the list gets to the selected name, a paragraph about the person is read.
This year, an old childhood friend of mine, a Vietnam veteran who died from cancer 10 years ago (Agent Orange casualty), James Kermit Rutsch has been selected.
You can read about Jimmie (as I knew him) at this link.
Jim Rutsch
