St Croix River Road Ramblings

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Friday, May 10, 2013

Memorial Day -- Pvt James K. Rutsch

Each year I help the Sterling Eureka and Laketown Historical Society headquartered in Cushing, WI, remember a veteran at the Wolf Creek Cemetery Memorial Day program.  

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