A SHOW OF SUPPORT
Rally honors troops serving our country.
BY CLAUDIA HIBBERT
Reporter-Herald Staff Writer

Tom Buchanan doesn't want today's troops to endure what American veterans of the Vietnam War did when they re turned to the United States.

Those service members didn't get a warm reception, the Loveland man told a crowd of nearly 200 people Saturday at Loveland's Foote Lagoon for a rally in honor of Armed Forces Day, which was Saturday.

"We have 75 people, residents of Loveland, serving in Iraq," Buchanan said.

And now Buchanan, the rally's organizer, has made it his mission to show those serving in the armed forces that plenty of people support their efforts.

"My main motivation is to make sure what happened to our troops when they returned from Vietnam does not ever happen to any troops that wear the uniform," he said.

Larimer County Commissioner Tom Bender was in the Air Force for 20 years and in Vietnam for two years and remembers the time well.

"I was raised during the World War II era, and I remember the veterans coming home in 1945," Bender said. "I was in high school during the Korean conflict, and I remember visiting with some of the young boot camp people who were getting ready to go overseas."

He said his "comrades ... didn't receive the treatment they probably should have when they got back."

But despite that, Bender said his allegiance to the United States is unwavering.

"I will always be proud to be an American," he said in closing his speech, "and I will continue until the day I die, no matter who disagrees with me or says I'm wrong,"

"Absolutely!" Margaret Thornburg shouted in agreement.

Several men in the Loveland native's family have served. Her husband, Chuck Thornburg, is a former Marine. Her son, John Kob, is a Marine gunnery sergeant at Annapolis; another son, Paul Kob, is a Navy commander; and three others, Duane, Jeff and Brian Kob, also served in the military.

Loveland City Councilman Walt Skowron, who served during the Korean War, said Americans wouldn't have the freedoms they do without such people who are ready to go to war.

"In peacetime, many of our sons and daughters, husbands and wives, neighbors and friends train and hone their skills to put themselves in harm's way whenever duty calls," Skowron said.

"We must consider the great sacrifices that members of our armed forces are making, so we may continue to have the freedom and quality of life we enjoy." Some people consider themselves lucky to enjoy the freedoms they fought for. Russ Dieterle, a resident of Loveland for 32 years and a WWII vet, almost didn't make it back.

He was just a teenager when kamikaze pilots attacked his ship, the USS Lagrange, as it was anchored off Okinawa. Twenty-one men were killed; 89 were injured.

Dieterle, who quit high school in Rochester, N.Y., to enlist in the Navy on his 17th birthday, was aboard the attack trans- port ship, which carried sup plies and troops to support amphibious operations, as part of the landing craft division.

"It was Aug. 13, 1945," two days before the war ended. "I would have been 18 then."

"And he survived," his wife, Lucille, added. "He came back."

Former Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson proposed Armed Forces Day in August 1949 to honor soldiers active in the military.

The observance, which falls on the third Saturday of May, also was established to replace different Army, Navy and Air Force appreciation days.

The Marine Corps also observes Armed Forces Day, along with its own appreciation day.

Still, members of all branches of the armed forces and the people who support them turned out en masse for the patriotic ceremony, which included the singing of the "Star- Spangled Banner," a 21-gun salute and speeches from officials representing Loveland, Larimer County, and U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave and Sen. Wayne Allard.

"Our primary reason for being here is to honor those active duty armed forces personnel that we have overseas today," Bender said. "I think the majority of Americans do support our troops."

Reporter-Herald/DOUGLAS VAN REETH

Dale Parrish holds an American flag Saturday, framing Tom Buchanan at Armed Forces Day at Foote Lagoon. The Associated Veterans Club, the Marine Corps League, the Loveland Support Group for relatives in Iraq and other residents, spent two hours honoring the people serving in the armed forces. Buchanan helped organize the event.

end Reporter Herald article

Thank You

Opening Remarks

List of Names on the Plaque

Agenda

Armed Forces Day Flyer

Pictures by Dorié Lehan Buchanan

Pictures by Larry Bruns

Pictures by Mike Pappas

Pictures by Deb and Dale Parrish

I will add more pictures and your observations of the event as I receive them from people that were there.