[Peace] Wages of War panel

[Charlotte Green]

Wages of War: Panel of Local Veterans

Date:  Monday, November 10, 2008

Time:  7:00 PM - 08:00 PM

Location:  Champaign Public Library, Robeson Pavilion Room A & B

Address:  200 W. Green St., Champaign, IL

Eight local veterans of conflicts from Iraq to World War II will share their experience in wartime and talk about the physical and emotional aftermath at this free panel discussion. Ray Elliott, a former Marine and author of Iwo Blasted Again, will moderate. The event falls appropriately on the 233rd birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps as well as the eve of Veteran‘s Day.

Just added to the guest list is Paul Lewis, a Marine sergeant who was held captive for 444 days during the Iranian hostage crisis. Youngest among the panel members is Sgt. Garrett Anderson of Champaign, an advocate for injured soldiers whose head and right arm were severely injured in 2005 while he was serving in Iraq. Springfield resident Tom Jones was a Navy medic in the 3rd Marine Reconnaissance Battalion in Vietnam and is the author of Lost Survivor, a novel about a veteran‘s attempt to fit in at home after his time in Vietnam. George Flowers of Tolono, past commander of the Champaign American Legion Post, served three tours in the same battalion as Jones and was awarded three Purple Hearts, two Silver Stars, the Navy Cross, and Bronze Star.

Col. Robert Henderson of Urbana, U of I special education professor emeritus, enlisted in the Marine Corps as a high school student in 1943 and was wounded in the Korean conflict. World War II veteran Charlie Dukes of Champaign was among the last documented prisoners of war to be repatriated at the end of the war in Europe, reaching allied lines 20 days after the Germans surrendered. He is the author of Good Morning: But the Nightmares Never End.

Joseph Smith, professor of English emeritus and retired vice chancellor at the U of I, served in Okinawa in the segregated Marine Corps. Left floating in the ocean for four days, Arthur Leenerman was the last survivor to be picked up after the 1945 sinking of the USS Indianapolis where three quarters of the men were lost.