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SFC Karl L. Rebman

SFC Karl L. Rebman

Karl Rebman was in high school in the winter of 1948 when he enlisted in the newly formed National Guard company, and was a charter member of Company F, 123rd Infantry Regiment, 44th Division. For the next four years his life consisted of school life and military life, punctuated with training at various summer encampments. It was following one such summer encampment in 1952 he received orders that his division was being called into active service. He and his fellow Infantry brothers were off to Korea.

US Air Force HH-53 helicopters on the deck of USS Midway during Operation Frequent Wind, April 1975

USS Midway Saves Thousands from Vietnam

The following information is from the USS Midway Museum.The final American combat troops left Vietnam in March 1973 a few months after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords. America’s involvement in war-torn Southeast Asia, however, would continue for years with thousands of government employees staying behind to assist South Vietnam.

Kenneth Capps

Kenneth Capps

Imagine you’re 19. What are you doing with your life? What is your next move? Is it more college, starting your career, or do you even know?

How about being 19, having plans and then you get a letter in the mail that changes everything. In 1971 that is exactly what happened to Kenneth (Ken) Capps. He had plans. He had a life that he was planning to live. Then the draft happened for him. His country needed him. He had to answer the call no matter what else was happening in his life.

John Quigley

John Quigley

After 35 years in the military, John Quigley, Beardstown, retired in 2002. He’s proud of his service but there’s a lot that he won’t talk about. 

John graduated from Beardstown High School in 1968. He entered the U.S. Army in 1967 and served in the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm. He served with the 25th Infantry and the First Calvary. He was in Vietnam for a little over a year.

Joe and Ryan McClenning

Joe and Ryan McClenning 

It’s been noted that many times when one family member is a veteran, it almost seems like it’s contagious. Because of the pride of serving their country, other family members join to do their part. So it is with Joe McClenning and his son, Ryan. Joe, Beardstown, graduated from BHS with the Class of 1991. He joined the U.S. Army in 1994 and served three years.  He felt like he was “spinning his tires” and wasn’t sure where life was taking him.

Bill “Pawnee” Fischer

Bill “Pawnee” Fischer Fought from Normandy to Frankfurt 

After graduating from BHS in 1941, Bill “Pawnee” Fischer entered Rankin Trade School in St. Louis to become a machinist. From there he worked in the Curtis-Wright airplane plant in the tool and dye department for about five months before being drafted in the summer of 1943.

He spent five months at the armored training center in Ft. Knox, Ky where the Sherman M4 tank would become his machine of focus.  He said, “We marched five to ten miles each morning and trained with tanks all afternoon.”

Healthy You Dr Thyroid Cancer

WHAT IS THYROID CANCER & WHAT ARE MY RISKS?

Have you ever wondered why your primary care physician feels around the base of your neck during a check-up? If you’ve scheduled an appointment for a sore throat,

Fire Prevention Week: Cooking causes most U.S. home fires

During Fire Prevention Week (October 8-14), the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago, reminds everyone that cooking is the leading cause of home fires and issues safety steps to follow to help avoid one of these blazes.

13 Superstitions and their origins

13 Superstitions and their origins

Superstition: Defined as a widely held but unjustified belief in supernatural causation leading to certain consequences of an action or event, or a practice based on such a belief.

Get it off our chests – 8 Facts about Breast Cancer

The World Health Organization reports that roughly 2.3 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020. By the end of that year, there were nearly eight million women alive who had been diagnosed with the disease in the previous half decade.

A breast cancer diagnosis inevitably leads to questions about the disease. The bulk of those questions undoubtedly are asked by the millions of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer. But millions more individuals, including friends and family members of recently diagnosed women, may have their own questions. Women can discuss the specifics of their diagnosis with their physicians. In the meantime, the following are some frequently asked questions and answers that can help anyone better understand this potentially deadly disease.