By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Every military veteran has a story, whether they served in peace time or during war.
“Although most veterans don’t like to talk about themselves, their families love to talk about their veterans or their friends that served,” according to Vance Chartier, the new commander of Hays American Legion Post 173.
The American Legion, 1305 Canterbury, will host an “Honor Your Veteran Care and Share” event Saturday, Nov. 14, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Local veterans and their families are invited to participate and “share personally while sitting at the table or to come up to the podium and share their veteran’s story.”
“We felt it would be nice to provide them a forum to come and share their pictures, their stories, their memorabilia, the medals that their veterans have earned,” Chartier said. “This can be veterans who are still living or those who have passed on.”
Guest speakers will include Doug Nichols, Palco, the father of former Hays resident Bryan Nichols, an Army helicopter pilot who was killed in action Aug. 6, 2011, in Afghanistan. American Legion Rider Ron Bennett will talk about his involvement with Honor Flights which fly World War II and Korean War veterans to Washington at no cost to view the national WWII and Korean War memorials.
Chartier has his own family veterans’ stories to tell.
“I have a couple uncles I’m rather proud of. Arthur Chartier, Jr. served in World War II on the U.S.S. Vincent, a minesweeper ship, at the end of the war assigned to mine sweep the China Sea between Japan and China.
“They had been chasing an (enemy) sub. He was one of the sailors working in the engine room. The ship captain kept calling down asking for more speed. The chief engineer kept saying they were at max power and they couldn’t catch up to the sub.
“My uncle got on the com (communications speaker) and told the captain he could get more power out of those engines. He was a master mechanic, loved working on engines, so he knew how to make those engines hum. He was able to get enough power–taking them over their maximum capacity–to catch up to the sub and they were able to take the sub out…with depth charges,” Chartier said.
When the surrender by the Japanese was signed, the U.S.S. Vincent was still on its mission.
According to Chartier, the American fleet was in such a hurry to get back to the U.S., they forgot to notify the Vincent to come back.
“So, the Vincent finished their mission, tried to contact the fleet, and there was no one there. The ship had enough fuel to get back to the United States, but the food rations were very short. They basically lived off about a half-cup of beans a day. The crew was so malnourished by the time they got back to port in San Francisco, they were kept there a few days to fatten them up before they released them to their families,” Chartier said.
The evening will start with the American Legion Riders Post 173’s “People’s Choice Cook-Off” and meal from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children. Admission to the Honor Your Veteran event only is by donation.
For more information about both events contact Amanda at (785) 673-9151 or Rhiannon (785) 650-3588.