Veterans Day at Murphy-Wall State Bank

The management and staff of Murphy-Wall State Bank and Trust Company wanted to do something a bit special this year to recognize Veterans in our area.  From November 8^th  thru the 10^th,

The days leading up to Veterans Day 2018, over thirty United States military veterans received gift cards from Murphy-Wall State Bank, as an expression of thanks for their service to our great country. At the Murphy-Wall branches in Pinckneyville, Elkville and Murphysboro, representatives from the Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force were greeted. While they were at the bank, Murphy-Wall staff took a moment to hear their stories, thank them for their service, and give them a round of applause. Some had served in France, some in Vietnam, others in Afghanistan, while still others secured our freedom stateside and elsewhere. All of them have our continued respect and appreciation, not only for Veterans Day, but every day.

We are leaving out the names in respect of privacy, but here are a few stories that were shared by local veterans.

• We were honored to have a Navy veteran stop in who had served at Pearl Harbor in the years following the bombing. He recalled having counted three years, and four days of military service. “I got out right after the Korean War,” he said.
• One combat engineer shared his experiences of how he was stationed in Ft. Carson Co and Ft. Riley, Kansas to prepare for service in Vietnam during November, 1963. He recalled going through training to be sent there, but due to the assassination of President Kennedy, a turn of events caused him to remain stateside. While out west, he also shared that he survived a close contact with a rattlesnake. He recanted that all these years later, he still remembers his number, and said he always will.
• A local retired Navy veteran was proud to say he had traveled around the world…twice, on 18 different ships. He was in the service for ten years, then spent the next decade out of the military, but returning for another 27 years, for a total of 37 years of military service.
• We had a veteran who shared his story of spending four years with the Navy, from 1952 until 1956. His travels took him from Washington D.C. for secret service training, and then on to Germany. He said he used his G.I. Bill to return to school.
• One veteran said he was drafted to serve in Vietnam, and spent two years in the army as an artillery gunner, noting his experiences as “difficult to talk about.”
• Another veteran of the war came in and showed us some of his military paperwork. He was a sharp shooter in Vietnam, and received the Vietnam Service Medal, as well as the National Defense Service Medal. He reported having been a ration driver, taking part in what he said was “the second largest ammo dump in the world.” When we told him thank you for his service, he replied, “Well, we ain’t speaking Vietnamese.”
• A six-year army veteran which came to the bank noted he was a construction equipment operator for a year in Afghanistan in 2011, saying he had worked in building and tearing down bases, as well as road maintenance.
• An Air Force veteran arrived at the bank wearing camo and with his children by his side. He said the best part of his service was during basic training, when he met his wife.

In addition to or in lieu of the stories we collected, we also were able to snap a few photos below with the Veterans, their memorabilia and our staff.

To all the veterans who have served to protect the freedoms we enjoy, Murphy-Wall State Bank and Trust Company says, Thank You!

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