The stories of 100 1st Infantry Division Soldiers who retired in the Junction City area were in the spotlight at the Military Affairs Council Breakfast before a big audience at the Courtyard by Marriott Convention Center Thursday morning.

This project to tell the Soldier’s stories was undertaken by Junction City Mayor Phyllis Fitzgerald, herself a veteran of Desert Storm and the Big Red One. She cited the statistics for this project which showed 30 of the stories were about veterans of Vietnam, four who served in Korea, 31 Desert Storm. 59 in Iraq and 15 from the war in Afghanistan. Fitzgerald interviewed the veterans, wrote the stories and delivered a completed story to each veteran. She told the audience that all of the stories will go into historical records at the 1st Infantry Division Museum at Cantigny, Illinois and a copy will be sent to Fort Riley.

Fitzgerald was honored during the breakfast by being named an honorary lifetime member of the Big Red One and was also presented with a Quilt of Valor recognizing her for service. She received a standing ovation. Fitzgerald commented on the attendance at the breakfast by the veterans and seeing the project come together. “It was very overwhelming, very honorable and it made me feel really, really good. I think the feel of the audience is the same, that we were able to get as many of the veterans out of the 100 to attend, and  then our community leaders, our community business people, the military from Fort Riley, it was a very, very exciting time for everybody.”

Three veterans spoke during the event including Tim Echevarria who said he started his military career at Fort Riley in January of 1955, and later after two tours in Vietnam ended his career at Fort Riley. He stated, “I will always be a Big Red One Soldier.” Steve Milton told his story about being deployed to Ramadi, Iraq with the division, and Don Able noted no one else has as much pride in their unit as do the Big Red One Soldiers.

Each of the veterans attending received a copy of the book with the Soldier’s stories.

 

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