Honoring those who served our nation

By MICHAEL BREWER, USMC

Special to the Alpine Mountaineer

And MARY-JUSTINE LANYON

Editor

 

On Veterans Day, Nov. 11, at 11 a.m. all veterans will be honored at an observance held at Arrowhead Ridge on Grass Valley Road in Lake Arrowhead. The public is invited to come, hear about their service and thank them for it.

Veteran Mike Brewer interviewed three of these veterans. Here are their stories.

Darrell Artiaga, CMSGT/USAF

Cedarpines Park resident Darrel Artiaga was born in Brownsville, Texas, and raised in Bath, Maine. He served 28 years in the United States Air Force, both active duty and active duty Reserves, retiring as a Chief Master Sergeant.

His service included multiple deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan. He concluded his career as the Supervisor of Air Traffic Control at March Air Force Base.

Artiaga currently serves as the Commander of the Veteran of Foreign Wars Post 9624, providing essential assistance and support to America’s service members and families. Artiaga asks us to “stay tuned to some exciting new programs at the Post.

“Veterans Day to me affords the opportunity to look back at some great American leaders and gives me the opportunity to show respect for the country I love and to give back to those who sacrificed for me.

“I am humbled to be a veteran on this day of reverence. The virtues of longevity and commitment are evidenced by the VFW and you know you have them when tested.”

 

Gary Cole, United States Air Force Master Sergeant

Gary Cole was born in Albuquerque N.M. His parents worked at the Sandia Labs. He left home at 16 years old to enter the construction industry, building cabins as a sole contractor.

When the construction industry hit a bubble, he elected to join the United States Air Force. With some high scores on the ASVAB exam, he was assigned as a Communications Supervisor for the Tanker Air Lift Control Element, leading to a vast array of cross-pollinated job descriptions. Those jobs involved humanitarian missions to Central America and deployments to Afghanistan in 2004, Italy, Puerto Rico and Honduras while interfacing with a myriad of government agencies – FBI, CIA, FEMA, NSA and the Coast Guard. He received the Army Achievement Medal. In his capacity with a Combat Communication Squadron he was deployed to the Gulf War, Southern Watch, Columbia, three times embedded with Army Special Forces, and Bosnia in the 1990s.

Cole is most proud to share his military lineage that is traced to Ulysses S. Grant and Teddy Roosevelt with five uncles having served in WW II.

Following 36 years of stellar service in the U.S. Air Force, Cole now serves on the leadership team at the local Veteran of Foreign Wars Post 9624 in Cedarpines Park.

 

 

Dan Schippers, United States Air Force Master Sergeant

Dan Shippers was born in Rochester, New York. Dan’s early aspirations were in Architectural Drawing and Design in which he received some academic training at Emory Riddle. As a young man he played hockey and soccer for the Stuttgart Team. Shippers went on to serve his nation with an illustrious and highly varied career in the New York Army Guard as a Flight Engineer on C-5’s, the only Guard Unit in the world that boasted of having C-5 in their stable. The majority of his deployments were all in the Special Ops area in the Korean peninsula, during the invasion of Panama, in Cuba, in Desert Shield and Desert Storm, in Haiti, in Afghanistan, and in Somalia where he inserted Army Rangers.

Shippers proclaims that Veterans Day to him is “ a focal point for remembrance of all who honorably served and protected our nation, but mostly about spending time with each individual and hearing their unique stories.”

 

 

Veterans Day ceremonies will be held at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11 at Arrowhead Ridge and in Running Springs.