As many of you know, I will be filling in for Keith Oliver for the next few weeks. I know, I’ve got some big shoes to fill.
While not a veteran myself, one of the most influential people in my life was my grandfather who was a Korean War veteran and the most patriotic person I knew. His belief in freedom and liberty for all was instilled in me from a young child.
Fun fact - he actually met my grandmother when he broke his back while in the service and she was his nurse, but that’s a story for another time.
As an Air Force NCO, Leesburg s Bob Peters was a key player on the ground team in Thailand that ensured the skies over Vietnam had the requisite number of F4 Phantoms on station in support of America s Soldiers and Marines.
Civilian life saw him climbing utility poles in the northeast and, later, serving with aplomb as an accomplished union representative whose gotta take care of the troops attitude has nourished a third career as a professional volunteer, according to our WQBQ-AM 1410 LZ LAKEHAWK colleague, retired Col. Ric Baysinger of the Florida Army National Guard.
Fellow Air Force Vietnam veteran Gary Kadow, executive director of Project SOS (Support Our Soldiers, Inc.) told the Daily Commercial in 2019 that Bob is laser-focused on the plight of too many of our veterans – and what we can do to make it better.
LAKE SENECA – Chatting with Eustis High classmate Dawn Gosnell Diehl at her Mom s very natural Florida home on Lake Seneca, is to trade stories with a patriotic, Sunshine State native who gets it when it comes to noble subjects which ring of duty and sacrifice and honor.
We ve written before on these pages of her late Navy father s World War II service in harm s way. And Dawn still becomes a little emotional when recalling the horrible manner in which her battle-seasoned cousin, Kirk, and so many of his peers were treated by some in their own country upon returning from Vietnam.
TAVARES – Last evening, if all went as planned, former Airman 1st Class Don Sansone, 78, and wife Donna appeared as Mary and Joseph in the live, animals-included, drive-through Nativity at the First United Methodist Church of Tavares. It s typical of what they do, said Don s good friend, Donald Beasley, who produced the event with wife Janet. The Sansones faithfully volunteer a lot – both at church and in the neighborhood and community. Don is a leader and a very caring man. And actively supporting our veterans has always been high on his priority list, Beasley said, pointing out that Sansone serves as chaplain for Tavares American Legion Post 76 among other endeavors.