Thank you to America’s veterans! Following are just a few of the stories from Ecumen customers who have served our country.  We invite you to share your remembrances and tributes in the comments section below.

Mike Colallilo

Today in Duluth, one of the few living Medal of Honor recipients will be honored at Ecumen’s Bayshore community. Only about 450 U.S. soldiers, sailors and pilots received the nation’s highest combat award during the war. Mike Colallilo, pictured above with President Truman, received his based on his bravery and leadership on April 7, 1945. Here is an excerpt from a Minnesota Public Radio Story. You can read the full story here – it’s amazing.

"Lying on the ground, bullets and shells flying everywhere, Colalillo decided something had to be done. Even though he was a private, not in command, Colalillo rose up and yelled to the other soldiers to follow him.

The soldiers fell in behind some tanks and moved forward, firing as they went. Shell fragments hit Colalillo’s submachine gun, making the weapon useless, and leaving him even more vulnerable.
"I jumped on the tank, and just hollered in the tank and told them, ‘I lost my gun and I’m going to use your machine gun on the top,’" Colalillo recalls. "And that’s when I started shooting all these positions where the Germans were."

Doris Brand

Doris Brand lives at Ecumen Point Pleasant Heights in Chisago City.  Among her neighbors at Ecumen Point Pleasant Heights are 30 other WW II vets.  She served in the Navy during WW II in the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). She played a substantial role in developing America’s air supremacy.

She attended Hunter College in New York City and then headed to boot camp.  Afterwards she was one of just 1,000 women nationally who became Link Trainer instructors. These were instructors who ran flight simulators to train pilots. After her training in Atlanta, where she learned how to fly planes, transmit morse code, and other skills, she trained pilots at the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas.

In a recent interview, she shared how some male pilots tried barrel rolls and loops in the simulator  to see if they could make her sick. They never succeeded. But she did succeed and, because of it, she helped our country succeed. 

Honor Flights

A number of Ecumen customers this year have taken Honor Flights to visit the World War II memorial in Washington D.C. Recently returning from one of those flights was Jim Reasoner (pictured at left) from Ecumen’s Pathstone Living Community and Bill Spehar, Vince Flesness and Bob Huston, who recently passed away, took flight to D.C. from Ecumen Lakeshore.

Among the remembrances, Jim shared the following:  He was 19 years old, and married with two young daughters when he was drafted. He was involved in combat in the invasion of the Philippines. In addition to participating in heavy combat, he suffered from 26 attacks of malaria. After a 30-day hospital stay on the Island of Leyte, he rejoined his company in Yokohama, Japan, soon after it had been bombed.  He worked out of Tokyo. He recalls at the end of the War taking the USS U.S. Grant back across the Pacific to the U.S. with 5,000 other soldiers. Crossing below the Golden Gate Bridge, he and his fellow troops were welcomed by thousands of people and bands, and banners flying everywhere.

Another neat story added today by colleague Lori Olson; you can read the full stor in the comments below.

Thank you again to all veterans!  We invite you to share your thanks, remembrances and tributes below in the comments section.