The Madison County Senior Center recently honored its military veterans in recognition of Veterans Day.
Those recognized included:
•Phyllis Strupp served in the Army Nurse Corps in the Pacific, Hawaii, Okinawa and Japan from 1944 – 1946. She survived two typhoons, one onboard a ship and the other on land. According to Senior Center officials, she once nursed a soldier with small pox, as well as cared for soldiers with diphtheria (whooping cough). Strupp said she still hears from a few people from her unit.
•Jim Askew went into the Air Force in 1951 and stayed 20 years and six months. During this time, Center officials said he served eight years in Germany and 13 months in Greenland (which he said was quite enough). He also served during the Korean Conflict. After 20 years, he went into Civil Service and served as a commissary officer at Bergstrom Air Force Base in Austin, TX until his retirement in 1987.
•Angel Rodriguez went into the Army in 1952, serving in Korea for seven months. He came out of the army in 1954 and moved to New York, where he lived for 22 years. (He even drove a NY taxi cab for two years.) He moved to Florida, where he lived for 25 years, finally moving to Georgia in 1993.
•James Russell served in the Air Force for 22 years as a communication specialist. He also served in Vietnam for one year and three months. Russell said he couldn’t have done it without the support of his wife.
•Will Mauldin, who couldn’t be at the Senior Center for the ceremony, enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1960 and served until 1966. He went through basic training at Ft. Jackson, SC, then was sent to San Antonio, TX to Fort Sam Houston. From there he was sent to Fort Bragg and on to Chinon France, south of Paris. He was in and out of the service before Vietnam started.
