 |
| Members of the Company B 458th Engineer Batallion were honored. Attending were, from left, Sgt. 1st Class Don Shepperd of Homer City, Unit Administrator Bruce Jordan of Johnstown and Sgt. Chuck Pinizzotto of Indiana. (Thomas Slusser photo) |
April 2005
The Blue Spruce Chapter of Ducks Unlimited celebrated its 20th anniversary Thursday night with a ...
... special tribute to Indiana-based soldiers who recently returned from duty in Iraq.
"It was a gesture on our part to recognize the local battalion that had recently returned from Iraq," said banquet committee chairman Daryl Speck of the chapter. "We also wanted to recognize all veterans for the efforts they put forth for freedom for us all."
The chapter offered 10 tickets to the U.S. Army Reserve's Company B, 458th Engineer Battalion, located in Indiana, at a table designated for the soldiers. A special veterans-only raffle was held, and a plaque of appreciation was presented to the battalion during the evening.
Sgt. 1st Class Don Shepperd, with nearly 27 years of military duty, continues to be amazed by the generosity of county residents.
"I've never seen such a strong outpouring (of support) from a community before for one unit," he said. "I've never seen anything like it, even back in '91 with Desert Storm and Desert Shield.
"When I first got here in 2000, nobody even knew we existed," he said as he recalled his early efforts to get the unit involved in community events.
Although the chapter hoped to have a full table including the commanding officer, only three soldiers were able to attend.
"Unfortunately since the unit came back it has scattered to high heaven and I didn't know how many of the soldiers that returned could be there," said Bruce Jordan, unit administrator. "We've got soldiers who came from Idaho, Utah, Louisiana, Arkansas, California, Illinois. ... We really had a unit made up of all but a few states."
Jordan further explained that the unit was not due to reassemble until June and that most of the soldiers were at home enjoying time with their families.
In speaking for the commanding officers of the battalion, Jordan had a message for the county's residents:
"On behalf of Captain Pribish and Colonel Chesser, I would like to thank the entire Indiana community for all the support they gave all the soldiers throughout the deployment. They also gave support to soldiers who were not from Indiana, but were part of this unit and I can't thank them enough."
©Indiana Printing & Publishing Co. 2005
|