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Saturday, November 10, 2007
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A few years late, Vietnam vet gets his uniform back VETERAN'S DAY PROGRAM Staff Writer When Riverside Elementary School in Brainerd began hosting its annual Veterans Day programs 13 years ago, a young boy asked Steve Rosenow if he was a veteran because he wasn't wearing a military uniform like the other military veterans at the program.
"A vet doesn't always have to wear a uniform," Rosenow told the boy.
After two years of service, Rosenow was injured in an attack while in Vietnam in 1970 and was airlifted out of the country. He told people he wasn't wearing much more than bandages and a bedsheet when he left Vietnam, much less a uniform. All his papers and equipment were destroyed in a rocket attack so he never got reissued a uniform. He was hospitalized at Fort Hood, Texas, and subsequently discharged.
On Friday, Riverside students surprised Rosenow with his own Vietnam veteran's military uniform, complete with medals, including the Purple Heart. Riverside Principal Cathy Engler, along with a few other veterans and friends of Rosenow, had been planning the surprise for him since this summer.
"I'm overwhelmed," Rosenow told students, who wildly applauded him as he received his new uniform. "I don't know what to say. This was 39 years in the making."
Rosenow, a Baxter resident, is a retired county veterans service officer and involved with many area veterans organizations. He said at next year's Veterans Day program at Riverside he'll be wearing his new uniform.
Riverside students wore red, white and blue as they honored veterans of all wars. They paid special tribute to those parents who have or are now serving in Iraq. The fourth-grade choir performed "God Bless the USA" and the entire fourth-grade also performed "Yankee Doodle Dandy." Veteran Jim Kunkel played guitar and sang two songs dedicated to honoring veterans.
JODIE TWEED may be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.
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