Celebrating our Veterans

On Nov. 11, the U.S. celebrates the men and women who have served our country through military service.

On this Veteran’s Day, we at Rolla Presbyterian Manor are extra thankful for the veterans who are our neighbors and coworkers. This year, we’re highlighting three members of our community who each spent time in military service.

Resident Bill Cassatt served in the Army for three years before joining the Air Force in 1965. As a child, he was a self-described “army brat” who started school in Austria and graduated in Germany.

He began his Air Force service as a cryptographer before his title shifted to communications specialist. Bill, who served through 1984, was in the service during a time of great technological advance, and he later went back to school for computer programming.

Bill’s military career took him all over the world, including Japan, where he was stationed for a time. He also spent more than eight years working out of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

“I’ve seen a lot of history,” said Bill, whose work was often classified.

Bill recently returned from a convention of the Air Force Cyberspace and Air Traffic Control Association, which was held in Gulfport, Miss., near Keesler Air Force Base.

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Resident Joseph Staten also had a long tenure in the military: He served in the Army from 1965-85. He spent eight years as a drill sergeant, for which he won a couple of awards. For the balance of his time in the service, Joseph was an army engineer.

“I liked the regimented nature of it,” he said. “And I liked the travel, and the different people you got to meet over there. You can learn a lot from being in the service.

Like Bill, Joseph was stationed all over the world, and some of his favorite memories are from his time stationed in Alaska. He also spent time stationed in Korea.

“You think you have a hard life, then you see how other people live,” he said. “It makes you appreciate what you have.”

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Ted Glenn, a Presbyterian Manor employee on the environmental services team, served as a combat engineer in the army from 1978-90. His job was to build obstacles and minefields to slow down the enemy.

He appreciates the six years he was stationed in Germany.

“It’s something a lot of people save up for just to spend a couple weeks there, but I got to live there,” he said.

In his free time, he saw the Eiffel Tower in Paris and caught a bullfight in Madrid, among many other sights in Germany and around Europe. Once, he even caught part of the Tour de France.

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We would also like to honor other veterans in our community:

Residents:

Billy Crawford – U.S. Army and Reserves

Michael Durnin – U.S. Air National Guard as a medic

Forrest O’Neal – U.S. Marine Corps

Leland Womack – U.S. Army

Staff:

Estefany Stokes – U.S. Army

This month and always, we want to extend our appreciation to all the veterans in our community. Thank you for your service and for sharing your stories.

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