World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” - officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.” On October 8th 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first "Veterans Day Proclamation". November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars. The restoration of the observance of Veterans Day to November 11 not only preserves the historical significance of the date, but helps focus attention on the important purpose of Veterans Day: A celebration to honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.
We wish to honor all military personal past and present in commemorating this years Veterans Day. Coincidentally we have had three United States Marine Corps veterans from three distinctly different eras employed on the golf maintenance department over the last few decades. Unfortunately, Gil Schmidt the former Chief of the Winnetka Fire Department (during the 1970's) who was employed by the park district for 22 years until retiring in Fall of 2006 at the age of 82 had recently passed in Spring 2010 from a long battle with cancer. Gil proudly served our country during World War II in the Pacific, seeing combat throughout the "Gilbert Island Campaign" with some well known battles made into movies such as "Tarawa".
Mark Anderson, (Asst.GC Supt./Drainage Specialist) proudly served his country during a more tumultuous period in our history. He served with the 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Division from 1966-1969 attaining the rank of Corporal. Mark was "in the Nam" from July 1967 to August 1968. He was involved in numerous battles such as the Tet Offensive/Hue City, Khe Sahn, Phu Bi, Con Thien etc. Following is the cover of the recently published book "Lions of Medina" by Doyle Glass. Mark figures prominently in the book if anyone is into history or wants to learn about a three day operation where fighting was measured in feet, not miles or meters.
Our most recent former Marine is David Evanshank who has been employed since Spring 2007. David came on board just in time for the GC renovation and was instrumental with the new irrigation system installation. He wears numerous hats, some of which are Irrigation Technician, Spray Tech and Mechanic, responsible for all 90 actual reel-type cutting units/mowers and assists Rico Contreras/Lead Mechanic with other equipment repairs. David served from August 2000 to August 2005 with the 3rd Marine Air Wing attaining the rank of Sergeant. He proudly served in the North Arabian Sea during "Operation Enduring Freedom" immediately following 9-11.
Below is an S3 Viking about to land on the USS John C. Stennis.
THANK YOU, to these fine men and all the men and women who have served our country.The following two video's were taken by David during deployment to the North Arabian Sea for "Operation Enduring Freedom" on the flight deck of the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74). The first is a sonic boom during an approved flyover. The second is a F/A-18 landing; one of the jets David was a mechanic on.
