All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
Randall S Rehn was killed in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Civil War veteran Henry Clay Doll.
The Niwot Community Association (NCA) and Niwot Business Association (NBA) have launched the fourth annual Veterans Day Banners Project to honor veterans with Niwot connections.
Participants purchase a durable banner honoring an active duty member or veteran of the United States Armed Forces. Banners feature a picture of the honoree, the branch of service, rank and years of service.
The banners are hung from poles on 2nd Avenue and in Cottonwood Square during the weeks before and after Veterans Day. The cost of a banner is $100 and it is displayed for two years. Each additional year of display is $25. The sponsor can keep the banner after the campaign has ended.
Terry Larsen runs the project for the NCA. "There are a lot of wonderful stories in the Veterans biographies," Larsen said. Biographies for the honorees from every year are available on the NCA website.
Two banners honor Veterans killed in action. Randall S. Rehn was a Niwot High School graduate and was killed while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Rehn went to state as a wrestler and was also an outstanding football player at Niwot, graduating in 1985. He jointed the Army in 1987 and served for 16 years before he lost his life on April 3, 2003, when his vehicle was bombed. A stone monument honoring Rehn is located near the bridge crossing the irrigation ditches east of Niwot High School.
Richard P. Anderson, whose banner is sponsored by Sue Piekielny, was a Navy officer killed in action in the South Pacific during World War II. In 1944 he was promoted to Lieutenant (jg) and became the Chief Engineer of the USS Bush until he and the ship were lost in combat during the battle for Okinawa on April 6, 1945 when the ship was struck by three Japanese kamikaze planes. Lt. Anderson was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.
Victor Johnson and Joseph Gonsalves are the oldest living Niwot residents to be honored on banners. Johnson was a pilot, serving in the Korean War and in Viet Nam. He retired as a major in the U.S. Marine Corps. Gonsalves, who was born in 1930, served in Viet Nam, where he was shot down.
One couple, Jacqueline and Martin Melvin, has been honored with two banners since both were Veterans of WWII. Jacqueline was a Navy Flight Nurse school tasked with the evacuation of wounded Marines from the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Martin was an anti-aircraft gunner on the USS Hornet and survived its sinking during the Battle of Santa Cruz.
Don and Patty Strecker have honored their three daughters, Laura, Sarah and Julie, with a banner each. Since leaving active duty, Laura has continued to help veterans as a Doctor of Nursing Practice. Sarah transferred to inactive reserves with the rank of Major and a career with a number of command assignments. Julie also has the rank of Major and serves in the Army Reserves.
Henry Clay Doll is the only Civil War Veteran to be honored so far. Doll is an ancestor of Niwot's Kathy Koehler. After the War, Doll married and moved to Denver, Colorado, where he became a partner and served as secretary and treasurer for the Robertson & Doll Carriage Company. The business's building on the corner of Arapahoe Street and Fourteenth in Denver still remains today.
The deadline for participation is September 15. See the NCA website for details on how to sponsor a banner:
A ceremony will be held on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. As you walk around downtown and Cottonwood Square, see if you can connect the honored Veterans to the people you know in Niwot.
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