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MARKLEBANK HONORS VETERANS WITH FLAGS

FW Vet-Carl Biesiada, left, is pictured receiving his flag from Steve Habig,  MarkleBank Vice President.
FW Vet-Carl Biesiada, left, is pictured receiving his flag from Steve Habig, MarkleBank Vice President.
In honor of our country’s veterans and Veterans’ Day, MarkleBank held a drawing in each of its five markets for veterans to win a flag that was flown over the United States Capitol.

Beckie Collins, an Air Force veteran, is the Markle winner. She served in the Air Force from 1987 through 1991. Collins was stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Florida, during Desert Storm and also served in Phoenix at Luke AFB. She was an Aerospace Medical Technician in the Flight Surgeon’s Office.

Alan Slagel, an Army veteran, is the Huntington winner. Slagel, a radar operator, was in Germany with the Army from 1959 to 1963. He was stationed at Zirndorf near Nuremberg and was also stationed along the border with East Germany and Czechoslovakia. While on guard duty, he watched the East Germans build the wall and put up barbed wire along the border. Slagel was the first westerner a particular escapee encountered after successfully fleeing East Germany.

Tom Mortimore is the Warren/Van Buren winner. Mortimore was in the Army from 1980 to 1984. He currently serves full-time in the Indiana Air National Guard where he has served since 1988. Mortimore, a machinist, recently returned from his third tour in Iraq in four years. He has also been stationed in Korea, Hawaii, Qatar, and Bahrain.

Carl Biesiada, a Navy veteran, is the Fort Wayne winner. Biesiada served aboard an aircraft carrier, the USS Monterrey, in the South Pacific from November 1944 to May 1946. Also serving on the USS Monterrey at the same time as Gerald Ford, who later became President of the United States. Biesiada served on gas detail and refueled planes when they landed. Biesiada’s ship was in Tokyo Bay when the war with Japan ended in 1945.

Greg Vanover, a Navy veteran, is the Bluffton winner and was unavailable for a photo.

The Waynedale News Staff
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