Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Thank You various ways. Here are the Shoot from 11 a.m. until the Day assembly at 3 p.m. on
observances we found: turkeys are gone on Satur- Thursday, Nov. 9. Local
day, Nov. 11 at the Medicine VFW members also plan to
American Legion Post Bow Community Hall. attend the assembly.
for serving our country and No. 54 Entrants can win a frozen
Hanna, Elk Mountain,
protecting our freedom The Saratoga American turkey supplied by Valley
Foods in Saratoga in one of Medicine Bow High
Legion will be holding a
Veterans Day dinner on three ways. School
James Campbell Saturday, Nov. 11 at their The first way is to be the Hanna Elementary
Bus. (307) 326-5737 403 Bridge Avenue location. top shooter in the target Medicine Bow
Cell. 307-321-8729 A social hour with a cash shooting event using a sup- Elementary
bar will kick off the event plied rifle and ammunition. Elk Mountain
and run from 5 to 6 p.m. The second path to a turkey Elementary
Toward the end of the social is to have a high roll in a dice HEM will be serving a
hour, the flag will be posted roll-off. Veterans Day breakfast
and the pledge of allegiance The third turkey will be from 8 to 9:30 a.m. on
will be performed. To begin given to the low roller in the Thursday, Nov. 9 in the
the dinner at 6 p.m., master dice roll-off. school’s multipurpose room.
of ceremonies Steve Wil- Cost is $2 per ticket. The HEM Band will be per-
coxson will make a small forming during the event.
Veterans Day speech. Din- Saratoga Middle/High After the breakfast, the
ner, from 6 to 8 p.m., will School school will be holding an
feature sirloin roast, baked SM/HS will be holding a assembly which will fea-
potatoes, green beans, sal- Veterans Day assembly at ture students work from
ad, rolls and more. 3 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. nearby elementary schools.
Everyone is invited to come 8. The school is planning Students from Hanna El-
pay respect to veterans and on having veterans and ac- ementary, Elk Mountain
join in the dinner. Cost for the tive duty military personnel Elementary and Medicine
dinner is $15 for individuals speak at the assembly. The Bow Elementary will be
or $25 per couple. school band will also be per- coming to the high school in
The post would appreciate forming patriotic songs and Hanna to find out the win-
an RSVP which you can the library will present a ners of several projects the
make by calling 326-9600. video highlighting our armed elementary students have
forces. been involved with.
Encampment VFW Kindergarten through
Members of Platte Valley Saratoga Elementary second graders were tasked
VFW 6125 will be selling School with a veteran themed
poppies around Veterans Day SES is planning a Veter- coloring project, third and
and this year is no exception. ans Day assembly at 9 a.m. fourth graders created pa-
Thank you to all who have Proceeds from poppy sales
are used to aid Platte Valley
Thursday, Nov. 9. Carbon
County Sheriff Jerry Colson
triotic posters while fifth
and sixth graders were
served or are serving in veterans in need. will be attending to speak. assigned patriotic essays.
From left, Shawn Thornton O’Toole, marine recruiter with Shawn’s father as the
Veterans:
Sergeant Carlos Boone, and Shawn Patrick O’Toole. prospective recruit signs.
A Sherr thing
community.
American Legion Post No. 122 Commander, Mike Sherr. for your
is we can get nine or ten new
members in a year, but quite This had positive benefits by watch Trucking and did that service.
a lot of them are oil kids and making Sherr knowledgeable until 2010.
within six months or so, they in many facets of the Army, In August 2010, Sherr was
get transferred out,” Sherr but it meant constant touring made co-commander of the
said. “We have over 1700 with no leave time. Rawlins American Legion The Sun online: saratogasun.com
veterans in Carbon County, This was all stateside. post. In Oct. of the same
but between, Encampment, Then he was assigned to the year. Sherr lost a leg. Even-
Saratoga, Hanna, Medicine Gabriel attachment. tually, the other leg had to
Bow and Rawlins we only “This is a unit that travels be amputated also.
have 307 vets registered in around to church and civic “The doctor saw thousands
the VFW and Legion. That groups where you tell what of hairline fractures in my
leaves over 1400 not affiliat- the Green Berets do,” said feet from the jumping I had
ed with either.” Sherr. “We went around to a done over the years,” Sherr We appreciate
Sherr said he has 76 mem- lot of towns and be spit and said. “They told me they your service to
bers at his post that pay polish. It was a compliment could do three or four sur- our country!
dues, but only about a dozen to be chosen, but I would geries but eventually I would
that are core players in help- have rather spent a hundred end up in a wheelchair, so I
ing him run the operational days out in the field.” said no and had it removed.”
duties of the post. After the Gabriel attach- In Dec. of 2010, Sherr be-
“It is sometimes like pull- ment, Sherr went to Thai- came the solo commander of
ing teeth when contacting land for a tour. He went the Rawlins Legion.
Thank you
some members about help- there to train the Thai border In 2011 he was offered
ing, but then there are the police in helping stop drug the position of District 6
core I can give a days notice flow. He found the coun- Commander even though he
Veterans!
about a funeral we have to be try interesting, especially had only been a commander
present and they are there where he was stationed. of the Rawlins post for six
with no questions,” Sherr Sherr said the locals there months. He held this posi-
said. embraced Americans. He can tion from 2011 until 2017.
Sherr’s wife, Vancine, is also remember hearing tigers A huge concern Sherr has
president of Medicine Bow’s making noise at night and it with the lack of vets joining (307) 326-5257
Auxiliary, so the family is was where he saw his first the Legion and VFW is these 200 N. 1st St., Saratoga
strong with it’s commitment elephant not in a zoo. organizations are charted by
to the veterans. Another tour he found in- Congress and are voices to
A Rawlins native, Sherr teresting was in Germany. the government about vet’s
joined the National Guard There he found himself in a rights.
when he was in high school. small town in Germany in “New guys need to step in
After he graduated, he went 1987 where he stationed at now so they can learn stuff
from the National Guard, a German post that guard- to defend veterans benefits,
to United States Army Air- ed a nuclear site. He was because if it stays the way it
borne School where he was there to teach the American is now, there won’t be anyone
asked to join the Special soldiers defending the site to this,” Sherr said. “The Le-
Forces (Green Berets). how to face combat in case gion is very family oriented
“They say you are a three of an attack. While this tour organization and we have a
time loser if you volunteer he learned about building network that is established
for the army, jump school
and special forces. I guess I
nuclear weapons.
After 12 years in the mili-
in helping vets and their
families. But you need new
VETERANS DAY
am a three time loser.” Sherr tary, Sherr left. vets to join to keep all this DINNER POST 54
laughed. In 1994 he worked for the going.”
Sherr said his command- Sheriff’s department in Ft. “Our outlook is that we saturday NOV. 11, 2017
er didn’t assign him to one Lewis, Washington. In 1996 do anything for veterans
duty, but rather had him as he was in Idaho working for that we possibly can,” Sherr Social Hour 5pm to 6pm with Cash Bar
a “slot guy”, a person who a labor union. said. “Vets are a part of my Dinner 6pm to 8pm
went to a school when a In 1999, Sherr came back to family.” $15 per person or $25 per couple
position opened up and the Wyoming to help his mother. Please RSVP to Post Home at 326-9600
In 2004, he founded Black-
commander had to fill it.
By Nov. 4
PUBLIC WELCOME
Page 14, November 8, 2017 The Saratoga Sun
The Outhouse
Gift Shop
201 E Bridge Ave., Saratoga
307-326-3884
Photo by Mike Armstrong
Retired Naval
Quartermaster Chief
Shane Blakeman.
Blakeman is
currently the
Medicine Bow
Assistant Director
of Public Works and
is also a council
member for that
town.
Submarines to satellites
Blakeman’s 21 -year Naval career goes from subs
to recruiting to space warfare
The Saratoga
By Mike Armstrong 1990’s. ers, Destroyers Group Five.
Shane Blakeman can le- “We had a three submarine There he served with a one
gitimately tell people he is rendezvous in the arctic,” star admiral for two years.
UNITED
STATES ARMY THANK YOU
VETERANS!
Shively Hardware North • N. Hwy 130 • Saratoga, WY 82331 • (307) 326-8880 • (800) 300-8389
Photo courtesy of Richard Thompson
Shively Hardware Downtown • 119 E. Bridge St. • (307) 326-8383
Richard Thompson during his time in Vietnam.
HOTEL
By Fred Broschart
For many from across the
Valley, serving their nation
in a time of war was not
WOLF
something they were asked
to do; it was something that
they just did. Such was the
case with Richard Thompson,
66, commonly known around
Saratoga as “Dickey T.”
A life-long Saratoga resi-
dent, Thompson volunteered
Sincere thanks and
for the Army in 1969 during
the final stages of the Vietnam
War. At a time when the draft
Photo by Fred Broschart
gratitude to our veterans!
was going on, the war was
101 East Bridge Avenue, Saratoga, WY 82331
326-5525
Richard “Dickey T”
unpopular and many were
Thompson today.
dodging the draft, Thompson
felt serving his nation was
u for yo
Thank yoess from
ur
busin ell Family
www.wolfhotel.com
pb
something he should do. “I felt like I had to stay there The Cam
“You just did it, I don’t and help people out.”
know,” he said when asked Thompson said that he
his motivations for enlisting. found Vietnam a beautiful
Thompson says he quit high country, and despite the fact
school to enlist, went off to it was ravaged by years of war,
basic training then his occu- he enjoyed the scenery and
pational school in the Army found the people to be inter-
before being sent to Vietnam. esting and friendly. He doesn’t
Thompson served three hold any grudge against the
tours—29 months—in Viet- people of Vietnam, he said,
nam, arriving in late 1969. saying the war was just as
Originally, he served in Cu much out of their hands as it
Chi, an area near Saigon, or was out of the hands of U.S.
Ho Chi Minh City. The area soldiers.
was famous during the war “It’s a beautiful place, tropi-
for being home to a network cal and beautiful beaches and
of tunnels used by the Viet everything,” he said.
Cong to conduct guerilla war- He wants to go back and
fare. The year previous to visit Vietnam, he said, and is
Thompson’s arrival, 1968, the hoping to do so soon. He’s glad
tunnels were used by the Viet to see the people of Vietnam
Cong during the Tet offensive and the U.S. reconciling and
when the city of Hue was de- putting the past behind them.
molished, and the U.S. Marine After his final tour in Viet-
Base at Khe Sahn was lain nam, Thompson returned
under siege. stateside to Fort Riley, Kan-
Later, Thompson served in sas, where he finished out his
Da Nang, further north from four-year hitch as an MP at
Cu Chi and the Saigon area, the base north of Kansas City.
and much closer to the city of His wide variety of experienc-
Hue. In Da Nang, Thompson es in the Army, from front-line
served as a Military Police- combat to being in the rear
man, or MP.
Thompson said he was
proud to serve, even if he
echelon as an MP in Da Nang
gave him a good perspective,
he said. He was able to serve
Saluting Those Who Served
his country and his fellow sol-
Past, present & future
wasn’t enthusiastic about
being in the Army. For him, diers, but also came away with
pride in serving was derived experiences of an exotic land.
from helping his fellow sol- “The good times were really
diers. For those in the combat
zone, he said, there is a re-
sponsibility to other soldiers
fun,” he said. “The bad times
were really terrible.”
Thompson says he’s proud Hewitt & Associates REAL
Hewitt & Associates
ESTATE
A
A
ction
ction
Real Estate LLC
REAL ESTATE
Real Estate LLC
Hewitt & Associates
ActA
that comes first and foremost. to have served in the Army, Hewitt & Associates REAL ESTATE REAL ESTATE
“I would have stayed there and was proud to have vol-
(Vietnam) until I was out of unteered. But he stresses he
the Army, but they didn’t let was never really alone, even Aspen
Hewitt & Gold Realty
Associates REALAspen
ESTATE Aspen GoldFrontier
Realty Real
me,” Thompson said. “It was in Vietnam, since many peo- Aspen& Associates
Gold Realty
Hewitt & Associates
Hewitt
Gold
Cornerstone
REAL ESTATE
Realty
Realty, LLC
all about the camaraderie; you ple from around the Valley REAL ESTATE
Cornerstone Realty, LLC
Realty
Frontier
Cornerstone Realty, LLC
felt like you had to be there to served. Many people he knew Realty
take care of people, hell, you joined up and served in Viet-
knew what you were doing
and the new guys coming in
nam he said.
“I’m proud of every one of
Aspen
AspenGold Realty
Gold Realty
don’t. them, too,” he said. Aspen Gold Realty Cornerstone
Cornerstone Realty, LLC Fron
Realty, LLC
Rea
Cornerstone Realty, LLC
Page 16, November 8, 2017 The Saratoga Sun
Name Name
Address Address