PHOTO BY JOHN FRYMAN / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
VETERANS BREAKFAST … Dan Gallagher (above) stands beside a table display of military memorabilia at the first annual Veterans Breakfast held at the Edgerton Church of Christ on Saturday, November 8.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
Honoring those who have served our country, the Edgerton Church of Christ hosted area military veterans for breakfast and a time of fellowship with their fellow comrades on Saturday, November 8.
The idea of hosting a Veterans Day breakfast came from Dan Gallagher who is a U.S. Army veteran and had served two years (1966-67) in the Vietnam War. He also had two brothers, Jack and Bob Gallagher both of whom served in the U.S. Marines in the 1950’s.
“Through the efforts of Bob Walkup, we have a Vietnam Veterans breakfast usually in May in Montpelier,” said Gallagher who is a Bryan resident. “When I move around, and if we’re in an area and we’re going to a church to see if they would like to do something like this.”
It’s also the first time the Edgerton Church of Christ hosted a Veterans Day breakfast event despite the fact it’s usually Memorial Day when people would come out.
Gallagher had spoken with Edgerton Church of Christ pastor Jeff Lyons about hosting the breakfast to honor the veterans.
“For me, it’s great when you see veterans sit down and go back decades when they were in service and just listen to them talk,” said Gallagher.
“This is a time to get veterans together and you might meet a veteran who was in the same place as you were. They may have been two years before or two years after. But it’s always great to listen to the stories.”
This year’s veterans breakfast featured a wide display of military memorabilia such as uniforms, various medals, books, photos and even grenades.
“When we usually have something like this, they would bring information about where they were,” said Gallagher.
“We have one young man that got a silver star that was on display when he was in Vietnam, but he died. You just meet guys you wouldn’t normally meet at a place like this, because probably ninety-five percent of them are veterans.”
During his two-year duty in Vietnam, Gallagher worked with tanks which they were also called ‘dusters’, that featured twin 40-millimeter guns mounted on a tank chassis.
After his military discharge from Vietnam, Gallagher then flew to Fort Lewis, Washington before flying to Chicago and then to his hometown of East Liverpool, Ohio via bus.
Gallagher commented that he got the word out to various churches throughout Williams County seeking their interest of perhaps hosting a veteran’s breakfast and also sent out invitations to veteran’s groups such including the American Legion, VFW and Amvets in the county.
“Sometimes they don’t want to do this,” said Gallagher. “Some guys went through some really hard times, and they keep it in.”
Gallagher was amazed of the turnout of the veterans’ breakfast that also featured a presentation of “Stories of All the Unsung Heroes”, a documentary video about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
“I had no idea how many would come today for this breakfast,” said Gallagher. “It started out just for the Edgerton people, because a lot of times the churches do it and they invite everybody.
“We had sent out all kinds of letters to invite people. Like I said, if you sit down and just go around every table and listen to what some of the veterans had gone through.”