Saluting those who serve

Our goal with this annual keepsake publication is to pay tribute to our servicemen and servicewomen, who put their lives on hold to protect their country and ensure its freedoms continue.

To honor our veterans, we asked for the public’s help by sharing their photos, stories and service — of themselves or family members — or who earned top military honors, from the Purple Heart to Silver Star to the Bronze Star, from the Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross, and Congressional Medal of Honor to name a few.

We wanted to put stories to the names and faces, to capture them before they were lost.

We gathered information on local service and military groups, veterans services and resources available to veterans and their families.

Inside, you will find stories like those of Daniel Christians, who joined the U.S. Navy right out of high school in 1968 and served as an SN3 (signalman and hospital worker).

You will also read about Louis Ray Lefebvre served in the Army from 1957 to 1977. Born in Bonners Ferry on Dec. 11, 1933, he was wounded in November 1965 in the Battle of Ia Drang Valley, which was depicted in the movie, “We Were Soldiers. He was awarded a Purple Heart and a Silver Star.

Then there is Dustin Woelfle, served in the U.S. Navy as a missile fire controlman.

Bravery, honor and love for their brothers in arms, and their families waiting at home. All are bound together in a theme that runs through many of the stories.

You will read about Bryan Hult, who enlisted as an infantryman on May 4, 1978, and retired from the service as a senior Army chaplain on September 30, 2010. His last duty assignment was as assistant chief of chaplains for the Army National Guard, allowing him to advocate for all serving in the Army.

And there are the tales of Steve Powell, who spent 15 months serving in Vietnam; and Mike Morgenstern, who served in the Air Force for 20 years.

You will learn of the Gaffield family, where both sides of the family have served for generations across the U.S. military branches. 

In 1921, an American soldier — his identity unknown — was buried on a Virginia hillside overlooking the Potomac River and Washington, D.C. The Arlington National Cemetery burial site of this unknown World War I soldier became the personification of dignity and reverence for America’s veterans.

Similar ceremonies occurred earlier in England and France, where an Unknown Soldier was buried in each nation’s highest place of honor (in England, Westminster Abbey; in France, the Arc de Triomphe).

These memorial gestures all took place on Nov. 11, giving universal recognition to the celebrated ending of World War I hostilities at 11 a.m., Nov. 11, 1918, (the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month). The day became known as Armistice Day.

Armistice Day officially received its name in America in 1926 through a congressional resolution. It became a national holiday 12 years later by similar congressional action.

One year later, also in the 11th hour of the 11 day of the 11th month, two minutes of silence were held by proclamation of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, to commemorate Armistice Day.

The first minute of silence was for those who had died, and the second minute was silence for those who were still living.

It wasn’t until 1938, when Congress passed an act officially recognizing Armistice Day as a legal holiday — a day to honor all World War I veterans. Hult said In 1954, at the suggestion of World War II veteran Raymond Meeks, President Dwight D. Eisenhower changed Armistice Day to Veterans Day to honor veterans of all wars, which by that time included World War I, World War II and the Korean War.You will see photographs of more than 100 veterans with local ties and information about their service. You also will find a list of resources available to veterans and their families as well as brief histories of the nation’s military branches.

To those who shared their stories and photographs, to those who served and to those who continue to serve, we dedicate this keepsake edition to you.

And we offer our thanks and our deep gratitude.