Take a look at the stories and photos of local heroes that Leader readers submitted in honor of Veterans Day.
When he was in infantry school, James Aumann, 57, received a letter that seemed suspicious, and his platoon commander ordered him to open it.
Though nervous about the mysterious contents, Aumann opened the letter, discovering homegrown green beans sent from his grandmother.
In this later picture of Aumann, then a corporal in the Marines, he fires off an anti-tank weapon.
Aumann, who is originally from Pevely and now lives in Chicago, served during Operation Desert Storm and earned the rank of sergeant before he was honorably discharged.
He is the son of Alois Aumann and the late Edna Aumann.
James Aumann
Tim McNabb of Arnold sent in a portrait collage he created for his grandfather, Arthur Thompson of Virginia. Arthur served on a submarine tender ship in World War II and was involved in atomic testing, eventually earning the rank of chief petty officer. Tim said he is also a veteran.
Meaghan Simmons, formerly from Hillsboro, will be celebrating 21 years in the Army on Tuesday, Nov. 14.
Earlier this year, Simmons was named the 11th chief of chaplains and regimental sergeant major, the first female soldier selected for the role.
Simmons graduated from Hillsboro High School in 1998 and enlisted in the Army in 2002, serving as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and being deployed through Europe and Kuwait.
Simmons now serves at the Pentagon.
Mike Zavorka of Hillsboro sent in an October 1968 picture of himself as staff sergeant for the 377th Security Forces Squadron at Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Vietnam.
A recent photo of Mike Zavorka of Hillsboro.
Mark Funk of Arnold served for 35 years, spending nine in the Air Force and 26 in the Missouri Air National Guard, retiring in 2018 as a chief master sergeant in the Air Force.
In this 2005 picture taken in Baghdad, Funk stands in what used to be Saddam Hussein’s conference room that was destroyed by a bomb. Years later, Funk met the B-2 pilot who had dropped the bomb.
Throughout his time in the military, Funk was deployed in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iceland, Iraq, Guam and Diego Garcia and stationed at Mountain Home AFB in Idaho, Eielson AFB in Alaska, Chanute AFB in Illinois and the Lambert IAP and Whiteman AFB in Missouri.
In this 2005 picture taken in Baghdad, Mark Funk of Arnold stands at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier with the Victory Arch in the background. Both were built during Saddam Hussein’s rule to commemorate the Iraq-Iraq War.
Charlene Herrin, 63, of Arnold sent in a 1994 picture of herself in Thailand for a training exercise while in the Army.
Originally from Onalaska, Wis., Herrin enlisted as a battalion journalist in 1978 during her last year of high school.
She worked as a public affairs officer in the Wisconsin National Guard while in college, then joined the Army. She served for 20 years and retired as a major, mostly working in personnel management.
Her time in the military took her across the United States, and she spent three years in Germany and three in the Netherlands.
“I’m a proud wife of another veteran, Shawn Herrin, who also served in the Army Reserves,” Herrin said. “Together, we raised four children.”
Now, she is a member of the American Legion and the Arnold Veterans Commission.
This picture of Charlene Herrin, 63, of Arnold was taken last month.
Russell Turner, 76, of Arnold, seen in this April 1967 photo at Khe Sanh Combat Base in Vietnam, was a corporal and served in the Marine Corps from 1966 to 1968. Turner is a survivor of the Siege of Khe Sanh and Hill Fights and is currently a member of the Khe Sahn Veterans Association.
Wade Walton of Herculaneum, born in 1957, served in the Navy from 1975-1979.
In this picture, Walton, then a seaman, is aboard the USS Halsey, which is traveling from its port in San Diego to San Francisco for America’s 1976 bicentennial.
During the trip, the Halsey was the commodore’s flagship for a fleet group training exercise.
Walton was a radarman and said he saw much of the world during his service.
“You appreciate home, our great country, when you see the living conditions people from many other nations live in,” Walton said.
Joshua Lammert of Barnhart, born in 1986, can be seen in this 2009 photo taken while he was serving in the Army. Lammert served eight years, was an 11B infantryman and completed the warrior and advanced leaders courses and airborne school medical training.
The late Leo A. Koch
Karl M. Koch, 74, of Old Mines submitted photos of himself and his dad, who both served in the U.S. Army.
Leo, who lived in Cadet, served in Europe during World War II.
“My sister said he sometimes talked about being in a group that went in and liberated some of the camps, concentration camps,” Karl said. “He didn’t ever talk to me about it. He didn’t talk much about his Army service at all. I think he had PTSD, only back then they called it shell shock.”
Karl served in Vietnam from 1970 to 1972, attaining the rank of specialist 4. He worked mainly in demolition.
He says he dealt with stress issues of his own.
“We came back from Vietnam and were treated pretty badly,” he said. “I could have never worn this hat back then.”
Karl M. Koch
Karl, now 74, of Old Mines
Donald Wilson, 84, of Potosi served with the U.S. Navy for eight years beginning in 1957. “I was aboard the USS Putnam and the USS Meredith,” he said. “I served in the after-engine room on both.”
A recent photo of Donald Wilson, 84, of Potosi.
Edward Hill of Hillsboro, born in 1951, joined the Army in 1969 and served in the 4th Infantry in An Khe, Vietnam. In this picture, Hill is enjoying a break along the beach of the South China Sea.
In this picture, Edward Hill of Hillsboro is on convalescent leave at Cam Rahn Bay Hospital in Vietnam.
In this picture, Edward Hill of Hillsboro visits Missouri’s National Veterans Memorial in Perryville a year ago.
In this 1975 picture, Rick Hinkson of Eureka Contracting can be seen during his time at boot camp at the Great Lakes.
The late Sgt. David Bequette, born in 1942 in De Soto, was 26 in this photo taken in 1968 Dong Ha, Vietnam.
Bequette served in the Army from 1967 to 1969 and was in the 1st Air Cavalry, 5th Battalion. He was awarded the Air Medal, Bronze Star, Army Commendation Medal and Purple Heart for his service.
“He passed away in July of 1997 due to contamination from Agent Orange while serving in the jungles of Vietnam,” Mary Eskridge said.
Diane (Sanders) Messer of Festus has a large military family, some of whom can be seen in this 1945 picture. Messer’s father, Robert Sanders, 91, of Festus, is front and center as a young boy with his siblings standing and their parents sitting.
Robert served in the Air Force from 1950 to 1953 in Korea, and his only brother, Charles A. Sanders, joined the Army in 1945, later dying in 1956 from a war-related disease.
Their father, Charles Sanders, was 14 when he sailed on the Nebraska as part of the Great White Fleet in 1908, and he served in the Navy until 1913.
“Of the remaining eight siblings – all girls born from 1916 to 1935 – seven of them married military men,” Messer said. “One of them actually served in the U.S. Navy herself.”
Messer said the family has grown to 182 blood relatives, of which there are many in the military or used to be in the military.
The Arnold Veterans Commission celebrated its 10-year anniversary in August.
“These veterans not only have served our country so we can have the freedoms we have today, but also are serving on the Arnold Veterans Commission to help make the city of Arnold an even better place to live,” Heather Mullins said. “They volunteer countless hours and represent the city well. Thank you to the following veterans for the sacrifices you have made and continue to make for our country.”
From left is Ward 4 Councilman Gary Plunk, Charlene Herrin, Larry Boyce, Patricia Seifert, Lloyd Seifert, Paul Buffa and Ward 3 Councilman Rodney Mullins. All are veterans except for Patricia, who is the wife of a veteran, and Mullins, who serves on the committee as a City Council representative.
Leah Smith of Festus sent in a picture of her husband, Matthew A. Smith, 36, on their wedding day, June 15, 2011, in Waimanalo Bay, Hawaii.
The couple had attended school in Herculaneum together and always sat next to each other, according to Leah. “He slept through every class and got As while I struggled to get As trying my hardest,” she said.
After graduation, Matthew was deployed to Hawaii in the Navy and Leah went to college. The two reconnected four years later while he was in town, beginning a long-distance relationship. Leah joined him in Hawaii a year later, and they were married in six months.
Matthew served from 2005 to 2013 in Pearl Harbor and was a petty officer 2nd class, culinary specialist.
“He served on deployments around the world, supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom and receiving the Naval Achievement Medal and Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal,” Leah said. “He also received multiple specialized culinary training and certificates.”
Matthew and Leah moved to Festus in 2013, where Matthew is now a full-time paramedic with Joachim-Plattin Ambulance District and a part-time firefighter with Herculaneum Fire Department.
“He lives every day to serve others, is selfless and is the ultimate example of public servant. We are incredibly proud of him!”
This picture was taken while Ardie Price of De Soto was a courier from Mannheim to Worms in Germany.
When Price was about 19 or 20, in 1958, he and three other military members were visiting Denmark while stationed in Germany. The group had spent time at Tivoli Park, an amusement park in Copenhagen.
On the ferry back to Germany, they encountered a German soccer team that had just won a tournament in Denmark.
“(The soccer players were) very friendly and invited us with them. We had a good time talking when we could understand (them through) the language barrier,” Price said.
A crowd was there to greet the team once the ferry arrived, and the soldiers were caught in the excitement.
“The crowd grabbed our luggage like we were part of the team. We finally got the fans to understand that we were not part of the team. They apologized to us, and we went on our way to where we were stationed with the 8th Infantry Division in Bad Kreuznach, Germany.”
This picture of Ardie Price of De Soto was taken last month.
John Lyell, born April 21, 1917, in southern Illinois, was a Marine and served in World War II.
In May of 1945, Lyell was wounded in Okinawa, Japan.
After recovering, he continued his service in China. Lyell noticed that a boy, likely homeless, was hanging around the military base.
“My father wrote my mother asking if he could bring the boy home, but he was shipped home before he got her reply of yes,” Barbour said.
Pat Barbour of Arnold, John Lyell’s daughter, still has his helmet that was damaged by shrapnel.
Elmo Blum and Ruth (McClanahan) Blum, parents of Debby Campbell of De Soto and Tonda Breeze of Festus, had this picture taken during a crucial five-day leave of absence.
“He rode from California to Herculaneum with other service men, proposed to Ruth and was married at 11 p.m. after his brother-in-law woke the Baptist minister and asked him to perform the ceremony because Dad was starting his return trip to California the next morning,” Debby and Tonda wrote. “When asked about a honeymoon, Dad would say ‘It was short, but enjoyable!’”
Elmo served in the Navy for two years as a naval flight cadet during World War II. After he completed training, he was offered a discharge or transfer due to a surplus of pilots. Elmo decided to discharge from the Navy and reenlist in the Merchant Marine.
Elmo was born June 8, 1923, and died March 20 of this year at 99.
Devin Moser served in the Marines from 2011 to 2015. He can be seen in this 2012 picture along with Seth Anderson, Pablo Gavin and Julian Palmer.
Devin Moser, left, served in the Marines from 2011 to 2015.
Devin Moser, left, served in the Marines from 2011 to 2015.
Jonathan Stetina, born Sept. 18, 1965, of Barnhart served 35 years in the Army National Guard. In 2018, He retired as a sergeant major. This picture shows Stetina at the airport with his wife, Dana; daughter, Abby; and son, Zach, in September 2004. Stetina was preparing to return to Iraq after a short leave.
Stetina first joined the military as a part-time soldier in December 1982. He went active guard and reserve in 1998. Stetina said he was proud to complete Sapper training and completed EMT school in the early 1990s. He said a memorable moment from his career was helping to build a school for a small, remote community in Santa Rosa, Panama in 1993.
Another memorable moment from his career was being selected to cross the Rhine River in Germany on a floating bridge during hasty bridging assets training. “I was the only one in my unit to be selected to cross the river,” Stetina said. He also took a tour of the Berlin Wall on this trip.
Marine Sgt. Nick Gal of House Springs, born in 1999, has served for six years, spending time in Afghanistan, and is part of the 24th MEU 1/8. This picture was taken in Kimmswick this year.
This picture of Marine Sgt. Nick Gal of House Springs was taken in Afghanistan in 2021.
This picture of Marine Sgt. Nick Gal of House Springs was taken in Afghanistan in 2021.
Connie Wright of Festus served in the Air Force as an intelligence officer from 1986 to 2006. After retiring from active duty, Wright served as an Air Force civilian senior leader at the Pentagon.
In this picture taken July 4, 1996, Wright is at Tuzla Air Base in Bosnia. “I was part of a C-17 aircrew assigned to fly Secretary of Defense William Perry, his staff, Pentagon public affairs reps and press corps into Bosnia for talks and goodwill, with a follow-on mission into Hungary,” Wright said.
In the background, representatives from America board Blackhawks to meet with Bosnian military officials. This includes a then-unknown public affairs staff member Monica Lewinsky, who can be seen just over Wright’s shoulder.
“(Lewinsky) was a real ‘princess’ aboard our military jet. Our loadmaster even asked jokingly, ‘Just who does she know to have gotten this job?’ Little did we know.”
Paul “Buck” Deer of Festus can be seen with the other members of the Eagle Eye 5 Sniper Team, which included Bill Chupp, Bill Savage, Carl McDowell and Mike Filbin, in this picture taken in 1969 or 1970 in Vietnam.
The team were members of the 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry, 198th Infantry Brigade, Americal Division in the Army, serving under General H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr.
The snipers are written about in “In The Eye of The Storm” by Roger Cohen and Claudio Gatti, a biography of Schwarzkopf.
Deer, born in 1946 in Des Moines, Iowa, was a staff sergeant and was wounded July 14, 1970, receiving a Purple Heart.
Paul “Buck” Deer of Festus was part of the Eagle Eye 5 Sniper Team, which included Bill Chupp, Bill Savage, Carl McDowell and Mike Filbin.
In this picture, Chupp, Savage, Filbin and Deer gather at a yearly reunion in 2018 in Red Lodge, Mont.
Paul “Buck” Deer of Festus at his NCO graduation in 1969.
David Keeley of Festus sent in information about Cpl. James “Hank” Brunel Rice Jr., a Marine who died while serving in Vietnam.
Cpl. James Brunel “Hank” Rice Jr. was the son of James and Jane Rice of Eureka, brother of Debora Rice and Carol Austin of Bonne Terre and uncle of Mary Lore of Olympian Village.
Hank loved seafood and fast cars, saving up his money for a 1958 Corvette convertible, and spending time with family and his girlfriend, Brenda Weber.
With the ongoing war in Vietnam, Rice enlisted in the Marine Corps. On March 31, 1966, he shipped off to the Marine Corps Recruit Training Depot in San Diego, Calif.
Upon graduation, Rice remained in California for advanced training as a wheeled vehicle mechanic, then was assigned to the motor pool on Camp Pendleton, Calif.
While he loved California, he volunteered to be stationed inVietnam, arriving in the country in August.
Rice was assigned to the base motor pool on Hill 65, Kilo Battery, an artillery base assigned to the 4th Battalion, 11th Marine, 1st Marine Division, located southwest of Da Nang.
While there, he helped maintain the camp’s vehicle fleet. He and his fellow Marines also conducted relief missions at local villages, repairing food gardens and building a community meeting hall.
One night, at about 2 a.m., troops from north Vietnam began a rocket and mortar attack on the base.
Such attacks are meant to drive the soldiers deep underground into protective bunkers, which limit their ability to observe and engage enemy forces that move in the cover of night to breach the perimeter and destroy American assets.
During the battle, two Marines, Cpl. John Shoemaker of Mount Joy, Penn., and Rice, observed the enemy breaching and entering the base’s perimeter.
Both Shoemaker and Rice left the safety of their bunkers, risking enemy and friendly fire, to operate .50 caliber machine guns, preventing further invasion into the camp and eliminating any infiltrators they spotted.
The unexpected attack caused the Vietnamese troops to collect as many of their dead and wounded as possible and retreat.
With the battle over, the Marines began sweeping the base, eliminating remaining enemy threat, treating their wounded and assessing the damage done to the base and its equipment. They found minor damage to one M-109 howitzer and six enemy dead left behind.
Both Rice and Shoemaker died that night, but their losses weren’t in vain. Their actions saved the lives of 514 fellow Marines.
Rice was two weeks from going home. Both Marines were awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, and Rice was awarded the Bronze Star with Valor.
Lonnie Price of De Soto sent in a picture of his grandfather, James Edward “Ed” Hopkins, born July 25, 1888, in Cadet who served for two years.
Growing up in the Old Mines area of Washington County, French was spoken fluently. This would prove to be an advantage for him later in his military career.
Hopkins enlisted in the Army on June 1, 1917, and completed basic training at Jefferson Barracks. On December 4 of that year, he boarded the commercial ship George Washington from Hoboken, N.J., at 29.
The Army Company F Sixth Engineers, which Hopkins served with, performed many duties including marksmanship, use of artillery and explosives, cook duties and assisting with the dead and wounded.
They also aided in turning back the enemy at the battle of Somme River by keeping the artillery barrage ongoing and successfully kept the city of Paris, France from falling.
Hopkins was involved in several battles, including battles at Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, Chateau-Thierry and Vesle.
While in France, he encountered Sgt. Alvin York, one of the most decorated World War I veterans.
Hopkins was discharged on Jan. 28, 1919, for demobilization.
He moved to the Sulphur Springs area and later to St. Louis. He continued to be active in civil defense during World War II.
On Oct. 27, 1925, Hopkins married Myrtle Portell and raised five children: Anne, Fannie, Mildred, Tom and Harry.
In retirement, he and Myrtle moved back to the Cadet area until his death on Oct. 27, 1969.
This picture of the merchant ship George Washington was taken around Dec. 4, 1917.
Carl Harris of De Soto, left, and his late son, Troy L. Harris, served together in the military. Carl, born in 1938, served in the Army for 20 years and was stationed in Germany and Honduras. Troy, who lived from 1965-2009, served in the Army National Guard for 23 years and was stationed in Iraq, Japan, Germany and Honduras and was present during Operation Desert Storm.
