Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
In Rosalia, a special service was conducted at the Veterans Memorial Park on Veterans Day.
Veterans were honored at assemblies Friday, Nov. 8, in Garfield and Steptoe.
Ozzie Knezkovich, US Army, retired, spoke at Garfield Middle School. He is the Spokane County Sheriff.
"We are about to hand off the torch. I apologize for the condition of the torch you are being given," he said. "... I challenge you to reunite this nation."
The Garfield assembly included rows of veterans, called to stand, if able. Special honoree Jerold W. Powell, a veteran of the Philippines was in World War II.
The Garfield/Palouse High School wind ensemble and the young Garfield/ Palouse/Oakesdale singers were featured as well.
In Steptoe, 11 Quilts of Valor were presented to veterans by the Whitman Samplers, a quilting guild based in Colfax.
Those honored included Tom Barless, Specialist Four, Army in Germany; Gary Behymer, sergeant E5, Army Intelligence; Al Bezdicek, Specialist Four, Army in Okinawa; Allen Cochrane, sergeant, Marines; Earl Enos, Army 82nd Airborne and sergeant in National Guard; Lloyd Johnson, corporal, Army in security with Atomic Energy Commission; Larry Patton, US Coast Guard; Don Price, sergeant, Army in Vietnam; Jeremiah Joseph Shea, Army staff sergeant; Jerry Simmons sergeant E5-National Guard; Norman Tietrick, Navy seaman; and David Townsend, lance corporal, Marines in Vietnam.
Each quilt was sewed mostly at the Whitman Samplers' members' homes, also during twice-per-year sew-in weekends at the Public Service Building in Colfax. One day of the four is dedicated to Quilts of Valor.
The local women make blocks of a quilt, which are then sewn together by machine quilters in Oregon and Washington – including two in Colfax.
Quilts of Valor presented in Steptoe join over 230,000 others provided by the Quilts of Valor Foundation (qovf.org) since they began in 2003.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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