HUSBAND AND WIFE TEAM UP AS MEMORIAL DAY SPEAKERS; THOSE ATTENDING ADVISED TO RESPECT DEDICATED MILITARY SERVICE

Those who attended Memorial Day ceremonies at Waukon's Oakland Cemetery Monday morning, May 29, were treated to a rare, perhaps unprecedented, “double” in the form of husband and wife speakers, Bill and Kathy Campbell.
Bill, veteran of over 25 years as a local law enforcement officer, and also a veteran of the war in Vietnam over 30 years ago, talked about some personal aspects of that war.
Kathy, an Allamakee County supervisor and self-described and so-introduced “military brat,” recounted some of her memories of that period and urged increased awareness of veterans and what they have done and can do for others.
Enhancing the family aspect of the joint appearance, Master of Ceremonies Navy Master Chief Petty Officer Carl Christianson, USNR, noted that Kathy's father, the late Air Force Major Neil Wiedenmann, had been a Waukon Memorial Day speaker after his retirement from active duty several years earlier.

Her early years
Kathy noted she was born in Alaska while her father and her mother, Lois, were stationed at an Air Force base. After the family moved several times to bases in the United States, they spent four years at a base in Misawa, Japan, before coming stateside once again. They moved to Waukon in time for Kathy to graduate from high school here. She subsequently received a bachelor's degree in social work from Luther College in Decorah, and in addition to being a supervisor and the board's present chair, she works part-time as a social worker at Thornton Manor in Lansing.
Kathy said she thinks it is important, on Memorial Day, to “remember and realize how things have changed.” “For many of you young people here today,” she suggested, “the threat of communism is a dead issue. The Iron Curtain is down,” for those who remember what it was, she noted. For those who might think the Battle of the Bulge was against an increasing waistline; that The Holocaust is a new dance; that Kamikaze is a mixed drink; that Ho Chi Minh is a video game and Desert Storm a rock group, it is important that American history be passed on. “Our children... need to know just what their freedoms have cost over the years of conflict and wars, and (we) are the only ones left to tell the stories,” Kathy said. She recounted two stories from her own childhood days in Japan. One involved an incident in which she was spit at as an “American capitalist” by a Japanese college student. The other came when she and an American friend in Japan failed to realize the second meaning of May Day, May 1, in Japan. For Japanese leftists, May Day is also celebrated as a communist holiday, and the sub-teen girls were near to rioting at the base gates. They were rescued by American military police.
Those are stories of long ago, she suggested, but added that today's young people have the likes of Saddam Hussein, Muammar Qaddafi and Ossame ben Laden to fear as terrorists. In addition, many countries now have a nuclear capability, and communist Cuba is very near the United States.
“The challenge for us as Americans is to keep the freedoms we have by remembering how those who have gone before fought for them. Keeping our military strong and ready is also part of our history. It is my fear that as the years pass, more will forget. Young people keep getting younger and younger and the history books contain less and less of World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and Desert Storm. Because of that, we must be the spokespersons for our generation. Veterans... citizens... go home and tell your children and their friends. Children, ask your parents and grandparents about their time of service. Teachers, there is living history right here among us. When you teach American history, ask a veteran to come and talk to your class,” she concluded.

Bill’s war
Bill, an Allamakee County deputy sheriff for more than 17 years and before that a Waukon police officer for eight, is a life-long resident of Allamakee County, with the exception of his two years of military service, which included the stint in Vietnam. He is the son of Arlene Campbell Rooney and the late Pat Campbell, and also attended high school in Waukon.
Bill was drafted in 1967 and after basic training and advanced medical training, wound up in Vietnam as a combat medic with the First Cavalry Division. He was wounded in action July 29, 1968, and spent a few minutes Monday talking about how that injury, for which he was awarded the Purple Heart, happened, and of the four men from his company who were killed that day and the two dozen others who were wounded. Bill also received a second award of the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for Vietnam service.
Bill noted that even though it had been more than 30 years, he still “felt a void” and felt the need to try to contact former company men, and thanks to Internet listings, has been able to do so. With obvious emotion in his voice, he particularly cited contact with the widow of his company commander, who was among those killed that day. He described him as “not a typical Army officer,” trained to keep his distance from enlisted men, but rather “a friend.”
“I leave this message so that ten years from now, or a hundred years from now, people hearing it can understand what happened that day. I think about it,” he concluded.
Bill and Kathy were married Nov. 14, 1970, and have two grown children. Among other activities, both have been active in local veterans' organizations, and Bill will be the next commander of the local post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Cemetery program
The program at the cemetery had just gotten underway in front of the large crowd when there came the “new tradition” of the jet fighter, low altitude fly-over by F-16 aircraft of the Air National Guard.
With that establishing the mood, Emcee Christianson started down the program agenda. The Rt. Rev. Monsignor Ed Lechtenberg of St. Patrick's Catholic parish gave the invocation, and was to give the closing benediction as well.
Jay Johnson, administrator of the Waukon Good Samaritan Center, introduced and recognized the service of several WWII veterans in attendance, and singled out the Bloxham family's contributions to that war, as had been recognized in recent editions of county newspapers.
Larry Heffernan, VFW Post commander, introduced WWII Navy veteran Otto and Eleanor Thorstenson, parade grand marshals. He also presented plaques to Christianson and Joe Palmer for their long-term efforts on behalf of veterans locally.
Gold Star Mother Mary Riley, representing the VFW Auxiliary, and Joan Bieber, of the American Legion Auxiliary, performed the laying of wreaths.
High school students and band members Amanda Tryggestad and Jon Buhl read General Logan's Orders and the Gettysburg Address respectively.
Also recognized were Mrs. Poppy, Ann Steffenson; Miss Poppy, Lane Palmer; and Little Miss Poppy, Lexie Bieber.
The Waukon Senior High School Band played, with a flute sextet performing a special tribute to WW I veterans.
An honor guard of veterans fired a salute, and Jean Schon, retired from the Army, blew “Taps.”