Honoring local veterans

Danielle Switalski

There was not one empty table in sight at the senior center in Hot Springs last Wednesday evening as residents gathered to honor the local Veterans.

The evening was entirely dedicated to those who have risked their lives for democracy and freedom.  There were Veterans of all ages, going as far back as World War II in attendance and some briefly shared their military experience with the Valley Press.

One of the oldest Veterans in attendance was Orville Bjorge who was a member of the 10th Mountain Infantry during World War II.  Bjorge went to basic training camp in May of 1944 in California.  His infantry division was soon sent overseas in December of 1944.  Bjorge landed in Naples on December 23rd.  From there, they had orders to head further North to the combat zone, where they were throughout January and February.

“In February, I couldn’t go any further with my buddies, I got hit by a German shell,” said Bjorge.

Bjorge was taken out of the combat zone by the medics, where he was then brought to a hospital to heal.  He went on to get his Honorable Discharge at McCall General Hospital in Washington.

Staff Sergeant Jim Stobie joined the service in 1986 and stayed in the military for the next 15 years.  After he joined the service, he was sent to Somalia as a Respiratory Therapist on a peace keeping mission.  One moment stood out clearly in Stobie’s mind.

Stobie said, he, a surgeon and nurse were moving their 408 hospital beda and transferring all of the critical care patients to the Swedish hospital.

In the midst of this move, a Botswanian soldier found a newborn baby girl with her throat cut, lying in a ditch on the side of the road.  The soldier rushed the baby to Stobie and his team, where they put her on a ventilator and saved her life.

“They just got a brand new ventilator and no one knew how to run them and set them up so I did,” said Stobie who added that the baby girl was sent to an orphanage and sent out of Somalia.  “She was a pretty lucky girl.”

While Stobie was dedicating his time to the armed forces, he was also in Berlin when the Berlin Wall came down as he was attending a wrestling tournament for the fifth Corps in Germany.

“If I could go back in I would do it right now, but she (Mrs. Stobie) won’t let me do it with kids in school and I just can’t do it,” said Stobie.

When asked about his military experience, Drew Carr first shared his memory of being a U.S. Marine and served off of the coast of Bosnia on the U.S.S. Saipan for six months in 1994.  Carr also served in Cuba in 1994.

“Marines are always delegated on as being the police force of the world,” said Carr.

When asked how he felt when he first found out that he was going to be sent overseas Carr replied, “I was a marine, we’re always ready.”

After serving in the military for six years, one of the most memorable experiences for Carr was the “really good men and women in the Marine Corps.”

“One of the proudest moments about being a veteran is being able to hold your daughter’s hand,” said Carr.

The evening honored men such as these, who have dedicated a part of their lives to serving our country.

After the evening opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and the Star Spangled Banner, the Senior Center provided everyone with a free dinner.  Following dinner there was music provided by the Bible Church.

After everyone was seated for dinner, there was a Missing Man Table Ceremony, which honors those that have died in action.  The empty table has six empty places, which represent those missing from each of the five services and one for civilians.  The ceremony symbolizes that the missing are present in spirit.  Each place had one of the five service covers and a civilian cap on an empty plate.

Everything on the table symbolized something different.  The round table stood for “everlasting concern for the missing men.”  The white tablecloth represented purity of soldiers’ motives when called to duty.  A single red rose in a vase stood for each “missing life, his loved ones and friends keeping the faith” and the red ribbon tied around the vase stood for the “continued dedication to account for the missing.” The single slice of lemon represented “the bitter fate of those captured or missing.”  A pinch of salt stood for “the tears of those missing and their families.”  And finally a Bible which “meant strength gained through faith, sustaining those lost from the country, which was founded as one nation under God” and inverted glasses to show “the soldier’s inability to share the evening toast.”

After the missing table ceremony, the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” was sung and followed by Hot Springs local and organizer of the event, Karen Evans, reading the names of Veterans throughout the county that she has gathered over the years and their role in the service.  

“This is the only acknowledgement that any of these men ever get all year long,” said Evans.