Retired Navy Captain and Rotarian Don Gunderson spoke to the Fillmore Sun Risers Rotary Club on Tuesday, July 27 reflecting on his Naval service, the significance of our national resource, the military veterans, and memories of his father’s Army service in World War I.

Attired in his Captain’s white summer uniform, Don Gunderson reminded all that the real veterans are those volunteers who served our country as a member of the armed forces. They then returned to their home communities to further contribute to the well-being of the cities and towns where they resided.

Today there are more than 23 million veterans across our nation. Nearly 10% of them reside in California. As a group, they are active. For example, 71% of veterans voted in the 2008 Presidential election in contrast to 63% of the general public. Veterans are a significant percentage of business owners. As a group, these 23 million veterans stand out in their communities.

Captain Gunderson offered some poignant memories of his father’s World War I Army experience. As a boy of 17, he left the family farm in North Dakota and while waiting to deploy to France in 1917, he was stricken with the great flu disease of that era. He recovered at the Fort Dix, NJ Army hospital. He did not deploy as planned with an Iowa National Guard unit, filled with other Scandinavian farm boys. He was assigned to the 31st Dixieland Division from Mobile, Alabama. Now in the context of 1917, this was a great culture change for him. In France, he served as a forward spotter for the great railroad artillery of that time. He remembered very clearly the magic moment of the 11th minute of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 when the Great War ended.

Armistice Day, November 11, was always an important day which he faithfully observed with fellow veterans at the American Legion Club in Fargo, ND.

Captain Gunderson concluded his presentation with a display of his father’s World War I uniform with the Victory Medal still attached.