PEORIA, Ill. – Veterans Day is always important, but Thursday is an especially important day for Brigadier General William Robertson.
The Peoria native is retiring Thursday as Illinois Air National Guard Chief of Staff after 41 and a half years of service.
“Remember, on this Veterans Day, our fallen comrades can’t be here to enjoy that freedom and that liberty; they passed it on to you,” said Robertson. “Veterans have made our nation that shining light on a hill, a beacon of freedom.”
Robertson, speaking at Peoria’s Veterans Day ceremony at Courthouse Plaza, is a former commander of the 182nd Airlift Wing. He says we are surrounded every day by reminders of the sacrifices made by those who went to war.
Veterans Day is Peoria At-Large City Councilman Sid Ruckriegel’s birthday.
But, growing up, Ruckriegel says he never really got to celebrate, since school was always out. However, he always got to hear the story about how his great uncle served in France during World War Two, and how that was more important.
“It’s about the fact that, as my uncle was serving, as he was over there, on the lines, bringing (supplies) back from the European line right there, he was thinking of us,” said Ruckriegel. “He was holding us in his heart, just like our family was holding him.”
Ruckriegel, also during Peoria’s Veterans Day ceremony, says there is no day where we should ever forget about those who helped make and kept us free.
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