Veterans celebrated Wednesday at Lenawee County Fair
ADRIAN — Veterans got a big “thank you” from the community Wednesday at the Lenawee County Fair.
Wednesday was Veterans Day at the fair, and two veterans were honored at the event. Paul Dye, a 64-year-old, retired Army National Guard member, was named Veteran of the Year, and Robert Whipple, an 85-year-old, past Army National Guard member, was given honorable mention.
A lifetime Adrian resident, Dye served in the Guard from 1979 to 2009. A diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in 2008 led to his retirement. Dye is also a retired Lenawee County sheriff's deputy who worked at the Lenawee County Jail during his time with the Guard until his retirement from the county in 2010.
Dye is going into his third year as commander of Adrian’s Disabled Americans Veterans (DAV) Chapter 20 where he takes care of all the business for the chapter including launching a new bicycle rental program for veterans who need bikes.
He is also a member of the Lenawee chapter of the national Forty and Eight (40&8) veterans’ organization and American Legion Post 275.
Dye served in the Guard’s military police for 30 years and retired as a master sergeant. During his time, he provided security to the Pentagon after 9/11 and attended countless trainings.
Military service is a tradition in Dye’s family.
“My father was in the National Guard. He did 30 years also,” Dye said. “I belong to the different veterans’ organizations to be able to help people. I enjoy the DAV because of what we can do and how we can help there.”
Adrian resident Robert Whipple grew up in Cadmus and attended Sand Creek schools. He served in the Guard from 1955-64 with full-time deployment from 1961-62 during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
He started as an infantry man and then went on to the Signal Corps. The full-time deployment was in the U.S., but the time away was a challenge.
Subscribe Now: For all the latest local developments, breaking news, and high school and college sports content.
“It was just being away from your family,” Whipple said. “All of a sudden, boom! My daughter was born on October the 8th and I left on the 10th. It was just not a lot of money and trying to keep a family back in Michigan.”
Whipple worked for American Chain and Cable in Adrian for 35 years until it closed in 1990. He then worked for Oakwood Cemetery for eight years and went on to work for the Michigan Liquor Control Commission in its Ogden Township store for four years and then retired.
He is a charter member of American Legion Post 275, a charter member and officer of AMVETS Post 1957, member of 40&8, lifetime member of the Moose Lodge, and member of the Adrian Eagles.
He has hosted American Red Cross blood drives for 15 years, participates in a highway pickup program in Adrian, fundraises for a 40&8 program that pays for nurse training for five people in the community each year and has been in all the Adrian parades for the past 30 years.
“I’ve always done it and I’m going to try to continue to do it for a couple more years maybe,” Whipple said of his service to veterans and the community.
Veterans and their significant others were admitted into the fair for free Wednesday and enjoyed a free lunch of brats, hot dogs and chips at the bandshell cooked by “Chubby” Troy Vance, head cook for Sons of the American Legion from Tecumseh and Deerfield, and set up by former AMVETS commander Bill Hoffman.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Veterans celebrated Wednesday at Lenawee County Fair
