Veterans

A dog stolen from a veteran who lost both is legs in an IED attack in Afghanistan was hit by a vehicle Friday night along I-135. Ryan Newell says a man and women stole his dog Red from 61st and Hydraulic around nine o'clock Friday night. Newell posted on his Facebook page two hours later than although someone recognized the dog but couldn't reach the dog in time. Park City police are still looking for the suspects who stole Red. They are described as a white male, about 6' tall with a slim build and a trimmed beard.

Their goal is to go coast-to-coast, 4,000 miles on bicycles. Dodge City is one Kansas town hosting riders with the Sea to Shining Sea ride. They started in San Francisco on Memorial Day. Many of them are veterans with physical disabilities. They say they won't let their disabilities define them. "To empower and show other veterans things can be done again. You can get out of your house and you can do stuff you thought you couldn't do," said one rider. The riders are in Dodge City through Thursday.

A group that organizes flights for World War II veterans to Washington D.C. is grounded. Central Prairie Honor Flights flew the veterans from central Kansas to the Nation's capital. The trips give the few vets that remain a chance to visit the national memorial built in their honor. The Great Bend based organization was formed in 2008, and flew more than a thousand World War II veterans. The group was recently told it's losing it's affiliation with the national Honor Flight organization based in Ohio.

Hundreds of American flags decorated the head stones of veterans and fallen war heroes at Wichita's Maple Grove Cemetery.  Memorial Day 2012 was marked with the dedication of a newly refurbished Grand Army of the Republic Pavilion, honoring Civil War veterans. Click here for Memorial Day pictures A crowd of about 30 gathered in front of the pavilion and watched as local veterans groups placed a wreath and flowers at the headstone of Jonathan C. Kirk, a Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor recipient.    "They're heroes and they should be remembered on this day.  And we're trying to get the word out," said Dave Snyder, Commander VFW Post 112. Snyder and other observers said they hope the true meaning of Memorial Day isn't lost among all the talk about parties on the lake and backyard barbecues.

Army Corporal Frank Johnson died 61 years ago, and has just now reached his final resting place. A big crowd turned out for this man who most never knew.  He got full military honors. Johnson had been listed as missing in action for decades.  His surviving family members never knew what happened to him until recently.  That's when the army matched Johnson's DNA to human remains handed over by the North Korean government.  It turns out the 20-year-old Johnson starved to death in a POW camp in 1951.

A convoy of trucks is on its way to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. They are bringing 100,000 wreaths that will be placed on grave sites there December 10th. The tradition started twenty years ago when a wreath company in Portland, Maine found itself with 5,000 wreaths in December when it was too late to sell them.  They ended up at Arlington. Read more about it here ,  and here's the link to the Wreaths Across America.

It was a way to make sure a World War II veteran is never forgotten. Thomas Emery Hamilton died two years ago but it was just this Thursday that his military grave marker was laid at his grave in Hutchinson. The marker was provided free by the Veterans Administration, but it had been in storage and couldn't be installed because Hamilton's family couldn't afford the fees. Then, a couple from Valley Center stepped in to help.  Richard and Shirley Ortiz resist any accolades for their good deed.  They say someone did the same thing for their family when they were short of money, so they are just returning the favor to someone else.

Instead of flying flags or visiting a memorial this Veterans Day, students in Haven got their hands dirty.  All 300 students at the grade school spent Friday afternoon doing yard work for veterans.  Armed with rakes and trash bags, they took their marching orders to the homes of 20 local vets. "It's prett neat," said veteran Fred Rau, as he watched a 5th grade class scoop up leaves on his front lawn. "They've gave us so many great things here in America and we'd like to thank them," said 10 year-old Julie Wilhite.

A cut of the ribbon in Derby unveils a new honor to those who served or are serving their country on Veterans Day. Friday the City of Derby unviled its new Walk of Freedom in Garrett Park. The walk features a quarter-mile path that has monuments for each branch of the military, and bricks with the names of more than 200 Derby-area vets. Nearly 500 people were on hand to help dedicate the new memorial. The participants included an honor guard from McConnell Air Force Base and a group of American Legion Riders.

November 11 was chosen as a day to remember veterans because November 11, 1918 was recognized as the day fighting ended in World War 1, or the end of “the war to end all wars,” according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11 as Armistice Day in 1919, saying, “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…" Congress voted to make November 11 th a national holiday on May 13, 1938 and President Dwight D. Eisenhower later changed “Armistice Day” to “Veteran's Day”.