Veterans share common service, sacrifices, speaker says

Carl Smalley from Flat Rock came to the annual Veterans Day program at the Monroe County Fair Monday for the first time. And he was glad he did.

“I’ve been to the fair every year, but not to the program,” the 99-year-old former Army Air Corps sergeant said. “My son got me here.”

His son, Carl Jr. from Brownstown Township, convinced him he should attend this year.

“He always said no before,” his son said. “He said no to having a pacemaker, too, but now he’s got one.”

The elder Smalley rode in a golf cart driven by Lee Chapman, a past president of the fair board, in a parade of veterans around the fairgrounds that preceded the program and was led by a color guard of Boy and Girl Scouts. The board provided at least a dozen carts to transport those who could not walk.

Ken Arting, an Army veteran in Korea, is no stranger to the program. The retired 95-year-old farmer and Ford Motor Co. worker from Dundee rode in the procession in his own personal electric scooter. Accompanying him was his son, Rick, a busy 4-H leader.

State Rep. William Bruck, R-Erie, limped with a cane in the procession due to an arthritic hip. The 49-year-old lawmaker retired from active duty in the Army last week after serving 31 years, four months and 17 days in the service. A married father of nine children, he was injured in Iraq in 2021, one of several tours of duty overseas.

Representing Erie Post 3925, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and its auxiliary were Eddie Weaver, 76, a Navy veteran, and Sharon Grodi, an active member of the post auxiliary. While walking in the parade, Weaver met Air Force Tech Sgt. Angelina Cardella of Portage. Cardella, 36, said she has nine more years to serve before she retires. She currently is serving on active duty in Kalamazoo and wears a uniform every day. She also sported a tattoo on her left arm.

“Things have changed quite a bit” in the service, she said with a smile. She has attended the program before and was accompanied by her father, Bill, of Monroe.

An estimated 175 people attended the program that saluted veterans and entertained them with songs, stories and clogging. Many of the veterans wore special red, white and blue ribbons that were passed out at the gates. Guest speaker Lance Hawkins, a Marine Corps veteran, thanked the veterans for inspiring him while growing up in Monroe and for the common service, oath, training and military operations they shared among the 750 U.S. bases in over 80 countries around the world.

He said his four years of service (2008-12) as a rifleman had an “undeniably positive impact” on his life. He spent time on both coasts, traveled abroad and developed the “closest of friendships, skills and characteristics that have undoubtedly been beneficial outside of the military.”

He credited Jim Kehres, a Monroe veteran who was wounded in Vietnam, for getting him a job after the war.

“He didn’t know me, but really helped me at the time. It’s not the big things we do, it’s small things," Hawkins said.

Hawkins, 39, added he was “proud of the uniform that I had the privilege to wear, and am proud to call you my brothers and sisters.”

He asked all spouses of veterans present to stand and be recognized.

“Any salute to veterans is incomplete without recognition of our better angels,” Hawkins said. “Whether during our service or out, you often bear an unrecognized weight of military service. Thank you for your patience, your faithfulness in not giving up on us, for your love and for standing steady by our sides.”

He also paid tribute to Gold Star mothers and families who have lost sons or daughters in service of their country. He called them the “most sacred of the veteran community” and that the fallen “have not and will not be forgotten … in our memorials, wristbands, tattoos, stories, books, artwork and in lives lived.”

He noted that military service can be hard on the body, relationships and spirits.

“We do have high rates of veteran suicide and broken marriages,” he lamented. “My call to all of you who have ties to veterans is to support them … in your darkest hour when demons come, call on us and we will fight that together.”

Richard Janssens, a Korean War veteran, and Bill Saul presented packages of Michigan-made goods from Monroe County Farm Bureau to Eugene Poupard, 101, of Monroe and Jeff Gilliland, 69, of Flat Rock for being the oldest veteran present and the veteran with the longest service, respectively. Gilliland, a Navy veteran who served 40 years, was accompanied by his wife, Marilyn.

Poupard, who served in the Army’s 103rd Infantry, joked that he was among veterans who are “all kids.” He still golfs with his son-in-law, Tim Smith, who attended the ceremony along with Mickey Smith, Poupard’s oldest daughter, and Phil Havens, another son-in-law.

Wayne Blank Sr., an Air Force veteran and service officer for AMVETS Post 1942, served as master of ceremonies. Entertainment was provided by Sweet Adelines, under the direction of Dawn Seigneur, along with the Bedford Cloggers and Joy’s Community Singers. Each group sang patriotic hymns and played a medley of military branch songs during which respective veterans stood and were applauded.

“We’re very happy to be singing to one of our favorite audiences – veterans,” Pam Meade, one of the singers in the Adelines, said.

David Dart of Monroe, a member of Joy’s, sang “More Than a Name on the Wall,” a song recorded by The Statler Brothers. Lucy Gerber of Deerfield recited three poems that she wrote about veterans.

Subscribe Now: For all the latest local developments, breaking news and high school sports content.

Ron and his wife of 55 years, Janet Niemann, liked what they heard from Hawkins.

“I found it very sincere,” said Niemann, 75, an Army veteran in Vietnam who once worked long nights at the fair counting money with his father, Lester, a former treasurer for the fair board.

Hawkins said no matter what era they served in, veterans went through the same training, indoctrination and deployment.

“Something that makes military service so unique is the fact that a group of veterans separated by almost any amount of time can share so much commonality in their overall experiences,” he said. “In a world seemingly being pulled apart by differing views, this is something that should be celebrated.”

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Veterans share common service, sacrifices, speaker says