HERRIN -- Monday marked the fifth year for what has become an annual event at Herrin Hospital to honor those who have sacrificed to serve in the United States Military.
About 60 employees, patients, and guests braved a cold November morning to gather for the Veterans Day ceremony.
Each year, the reveille is sounded to signal the beginning of the program. Johnston City native and bagpiper Les Lannom has been part of the program since the beginning. This year's program featured Lannom piping and singing "Lay Me Doone," or "Sgt. McKenzie," written by Joseph McKenzie in memory of his great-grandfather, a World War I veteran with the Seaforth Highlanders.
Sunday marked the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended WWI.
Laura Roach, the administrator of Outpatient Rehabilitation for SIH, helped to coordinate the event at the request of hospital administrator Kathy Cerutti, securing the services of Lannom, who is her husband's cousin.
"I contacted Les and asked him to be a part of the program again," said Roach.
Roach said the annual event is important on several levels.
"It's very important to not only recognize the veterans in our country but also those giving back, those working with us in SIH," she said.
Roach said SIH also has patients that are veterans.
"We need to honor those who have entrusted us with their care," she said.
Roach said that SIH works with the Veterans Affairs to handle overflow, as well as providing services not available in the VA Medical Center.
Lowell Heller is one of those patients.
Heller served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, seeing action in Guam and Okinawa.
"I enlisted on Oct. 12, 1942 and served until Dec. 29, 1945," he said.
The 94-year-old retired farmer and real estate salesman said he trained through aviation cadets.
"I was a navigator on a B-24 bomber," he said. "I flew 14 combat missions and eight noncombat missions."
He is proud of his service, but said flying the missions, "you were scared to death. Don't let anybody tell you different."
Heller was in a wheelchair, wrapped snugly in a blanket, sitting front and center during the ceremony, accompanied by SIH Physical Therapy Assistant Paul Eckert.
"This is a blessing," Heller said. "It is really nice," he said, after listening to Lannom end the ceremony with the piping of "Amazing Grace."
Lannom considers it an honor and privilege to be a part of the ceremony.
"It's important that we take a bit of time to show respect and appreciation for the people who have gone into military service to preserve our way of life and our freedoms," he said.
It also gives him a chance to honor his father and stepfather who both served in World War II.
"My stepfather nearly died in his efforts in the South Pacific," said Lannom, of Ed Roach, the man who raised him. "He felt it (the war) was important enough to lie about his age to be a part of the war effort."
Lannom's father, Dean Lannom, was in the Battle of Okinawa when his ship was hit by a Kamikaze, a Japanese suicide pilot.
"At some point, he fell on the deck and hit his head," said Lannom. "The resultant deep bruise caused him to develop a brain tumor when I was 2."
That tumor quickly claimed his dad's life.
"It's important to remember his sacrifice and that of other young men, the flower of our youth, who fought and sometimes died that we might enjoy our freedoms," said Lannom.
