Their lives have been one of service.
Veterans who at an early age left their homes and traveled to such places as Europe, Korea, Vietnam, Libya and the Middle East to preserve a country’s freedom.
Firefighters who put their own safety at risk to save the life of another.
First responders who make it their mission to see that a person in medical distress is able to return to their loved ones alive and well.
Their faces are nameless, their actions appreciated but perhaps unacknowledged.
“Nobody knows their veterans, or firemen until they need them and nobody really needs a veteran,” said Richard Ludwig, chairman of Independence American Post 109. “But everybody needs a fireman and EMS and nobody appreciates them until they absolutely have to have them.”
So Ludwig, an Air Force veteran who was stationed in Libya in 1969 during the reign of Muammar Gaddafi, and members of Post 109 have organized a coffee and doughnuts breakfast on the first Saturday of each month, welcoming veterans, first responders, firefighters and community members.
The first breakfast is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Nov. 7 at the Independence Fire Department and will feature coffee and doughnuts.
“We just want to have the community to come out, meet us, visit with us, and know each other,” Ludwig said. “It is good form of network for us.
“Maybe we will attract a young buck that wants to join the Fire Department or maybe I can find a veteran that does not belong to the American Legion and wants to get involved.”
He is even hopeful of finding someone whose father or grandfather was a veteran and perhaps join the Sons of Legion legacy, a group in which the American Legion takes particular pride.
Ludwig said the monthly breakfasts are important because only 1% of the American population is serving in the military. His hope is to spotlight those who have or are currently serving their country, not just veterans but first responders and firefighters.
“When people go to bed at night, they don’t say ‘I hope the firemen are OK tonight in case I need them,’” Ludwig said. “So I think it is important we put faces with all of them and for the community to know these are people who live down the street, down the block.”
Ludwig said the monthly events will also allow veterans and first responders to gather and support each other, saying they are “a tight group, brothers and sisters in arms.”
“You serve and stand next to each other (during an emergency),” he said. “You may not particularly care for them but they have your back and you have their back. It is a family and you can’t pick your family.
“We want the community to know that we have their backs and how important the veterans are.”
Ludwig’s goal is to generate more community support and appreciation for veterans, firefighters and first responders, so they will not be taken for granted.
“The only time (residents) think about us if they wake up in the middle of the night and call 911,” said Ludwig, a retired firefighter and accomplished auctioneer. “They will come out and save lives and (residents) go on with their lives and forget about it.
“They don’t know (the first responder) but (at the breakfast) they get to know that person.”
“That is what we want and for (community members) to say ‘Thank you for what you do,’” Ludwig added. “Thank you for your service.’”