The family of departed resident Elmer Prins donated memorial funds for a flag, flagpole, and concrete pad, to be installed at Windsor Manor Assisted Living Community, 403 Scenic Street, Morrison, IL. Prins was the first veteran resident. To showcase the installation and honor Prins’s Air Force military service, Executive Director Michael Saad organized a Veterans Day tribute to all veterans, family, and friends–with a full breakfast following–on Wednesday, November 11, 2015. More than 100 attended the meal, he estimated.
Elmer Prins’s family members stand before his flag after breakfast. Left-to-right in front are Sharon Van Dyke, Thomson, IL, Elmer’s sister-in-law; his three daughters, Marilyn Tichler, Morrison, Patricia Huisenga, Rock Island, IL, and Diane Merema, Rockford, IL; Barbara Prins, Morrison, Elmer’s sister-in-law. In back left-to-right are Ray Van Dyke, Thomson, Elmer’s brother-in-law; Louise Kaufman, Chadwick, IL, Elmer’s sister-in-law; Brian and Arlyn Tichler, Morrison, Elmer’s grandson and son-in-law, respectively; Daniel Merema, Rockford, Elmer’s grandson; Irv Prins, Morrison, Elmer’s brother.
Unavailable for the photo were the Schlegel relatives. They include step-daughter Linda (Gerald), Morrison; step-grandson Tim, Sterling, IL; his boys Carter and Bradley Schlegel, who are Elmer’s step-great-great-grandsons.
American Legion Post #328 members attended, too: Bob Atherton, Robert Brands, Jerry Brearton, Terry Jones, Ken Petersen, Fred Steele, Commander Dale Usterbowski, and Ron Wiersema. Jones, left, and Atherton attached, raised, and saluted the new flag.
Editor’s note: Chief Petty Officer Brearton, Post Finance Officer, wrote the following eloquent speech for the flag pole dedication. He began at 8:30 a.m., before a large gathering. Brearton is at the podium.
During the [U. S.] National Anthem, I ask that you remove your cap and place your hand over your heart. If you are a veteran, either in or out of uniform, please salute.
I would like to thank everyone in attendance here on this brisk, fall morning. I would…like to thank Mike Saad of Windsor Manor, for inviting The American Legion and all local veterans to be here…on this special day. I would also like to thank the family of our fallen veteran, Elmer Prins. Their gracious memorial money from his estate made this flagpole possible. It will help keep Elmer in our thoughts for many years to come. Elmer was very proud of his service in the Air Force during the Korean War. Anyone [who] knew Elmer could easily tell how proud he was, by the ball caps and various shirts he wore.
It is very fitting to dedicate this new flagpole and flag on Veterans Day. Stars and Stripes can be portrayed in many ways. Stephan Ross wore a Star of David patch and a striped uniform while living in Dachau concentration camp as a boy. Seventy years ago, just outside the camp’s gates, an American soldier jumped off a tank and handed Stephan some food rations. So grateful for his new-found freedom, the emaciated boy dropped to his knees and kissed the soldier’s boots. The U. S. soldier then handed him a very different set of stars and stripes, that of a small American flag. It is the same flag that Ross and his family would keep and treasure, for years.
The late journalist Tim Russert reflected on what The Flag meant to him, during a 2004 interview with The American Legion Magazine. In a broadcast following the September 11[, 2001,] attacks, the “Meet the Press” host was criticized by The Washington Post for wearing a flag lapel pin while on the air, as he grilled a Taliban spokesman.
“Yes, I am a journalist, but first I am an American citizen,” Russert said. While most of us are not journalists, we are all something. We are teachers, police officers, construction workers, office workers, business people, farmers, or we practice some other profession. But first and foremost, we should consider ourselves Americans. Our Flag not only symbolizes our freedom, it represents who we are. The only reason we get to choose our occupations–or even if we wish to have a career at all–is because our Country gives us these marvelous opportunities and choices. The Flag becomes a symbol of National pride, when
- an astronaut reaches the heavens and places it on the moon
- a group of uncommon heroes fight through the ravages of hell, to raise it on Iwo Jima’s Mount Suribachi
- the first responders to the Pentagon, during the attacks on 9/11, display The Flag at the first opportunity.
Today, we are not only dedicating this new pole and flag but also what it symbolizes. We are honoring freedom. We are honoring the freedom to worship as we please, to speak as we please, and to vote as we please. We are honoring the hardworking men and women who have made this the greatest and most successful country in the world. President Calvin Coolidge was famous for not saying a lot, but ol’ “Silent Cal” had plenty to say about Old Glory. To quote our 30th President, “We identify The Flag with almost everything we hold dear on earth. It represents our peace and security, our civil and political liberty, our freedom of religious worship, our family, our friends, our home. We see it in the great multitude of blessings, of rights and privileges, that make up our Country. But when we look at our Flag and behold it emblazoned with all our rights, we must remember that it is equally a symbol of our duties. Every glory that we associate with it is the result of duty done.”
On this Veterans Day we must reflect that most veterans, whether they experienced a field training exercise or intense combat, have distinct memories of ill lodging, discomfort, arbitrary rule, and separation. It goes part and parcel with military life, and it is why we hold veterans in such high regard. From Bunker Hill to Baghdad, Pearl Harbor to Peleliu, and many other locations, there has always been a select group of Americans willing to fight and possibly die, for a cause greater than their self-preservation.
And while we set aside November 11 as a special day to honor and remember our veterans, we should continuously endeavor to serve our veterans–as well as they have served this Nation. We must honor all of their families, not just with Blue and Gold Star Banners, but with compassionate hearts. Sometimes all that is needed is a simple “thank you” to the veteran or the family member for his or her sacrifice. Fewer than ten percent of Americans are veterans, four of which reside here at Windsor Manor. This special group often provides the vital services that enable our communities to function. In short, veterans make our communities better. Born of their extraordinary accomplishments comes our extraordinary debt. And for those accomplishments and for their dedication, we must always be grateful.
So, in closing, I ask that all veterans join me in a final salute of this Flag as a thanks to Elmer Prins, his family, and all veterans.
Always remember, freedom is not free. God bless you all for being here, God bless our veterans, and God bless America.
Now, let’s enjoy a fine breakfast prepared for us by the kitchen staff here at Windsor-Manor.
One Morrison veteran had extra cause to celebrate the day. Art Schroeder was born November 11, 1918, the year the First World War officially ended. He is 97 and was treated to a Happy Birthday song.
Sharing breakfast with him were his daughter, Elaine Carp, Morrison, and his caregiver. He has a brother, Al Schroeder, in Morrison, and a half-brother Arlyn in Rockford.
Schroeder was born “in Ustick Township, north of Morrison, out in the country, like everybody else. I [did] carpentry work my whole life, even when in the service. There were a few buildings that we put up,” he remembered. “That was a different life!”
He lives in his own home. “I feel I’m pretty fortunate. I get around. I get by. I get my own meals. Today was a day I didn’t have to cook!”
During World War II, Schroeder “served in the Field Artillery, as a Gunner’s Corporal in the 1-5-5 [for] 4.5 years. I’m the last one.”
“In ’41 a lot of the outfits/batteries had a picture taken. Last Thursday, [November 5,] a couple came” to his house. “The woman said, ‘I’m Tom Allison’s daughter.'”
“I was in the service with Tom for four years! Way back, we used to have a reunion every year in Macomb[, IL].”