Issaquah City Hall Veterans Day Ceremony pays tribute to locals who served

Those who sacrifice everything to keep American citizens safe were honored in Issaquah on Veterans Day.

About a dozen veterans were recognized at the Veterans Day ceremony at City Hall’s Eagle Room, which began at 11 a.m., the hour at which World War I officially ended on Nov. 11, 1918. Among the veterans in attendance were elected leaders, including Issaquah Mayor Fred Butler and 5th Legislative District Rep. Chad Magendanz.

Family members of veterans, elected officials, Liberty High School Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), Cub Scout Packs 639 and 682, Boy Scout Troop 709 and community members were all present at the cerenomy. Issaquah/Mount Si VFW Post 3436 Commander Dean Van Dyke and Vice Commander Dave Waggoner led the proceedings.

“Today we come together to honor veterans who have served,” Van Dyke stated to the crowd.

The colors were presented by Liberty High School ROTC, who came in on their day off of school to be a part of the event.

Waggoner gifted Butler a new flag for the city, saying “we want to make sure the city of Issaquah stands tall.”

“We very much appreciate your service,” Butler told Waggoner.

Issaquah City Council President Stacy Goodman gave a speech honoring the veterans in her own life, including her father, who served between 1958 and 1961, and her grandfather, who fought in the Belgian trenches during World War I. Goodman said that while her grandfather survived the war, he contracted a respiratory illness from the poisonous gases used in combat, and consequently died young, leaving a wife and five children behind.

“Every family of a veteran has a story like this … We honor you for your incredible sacrifices to protect our great nation,” Goodman said.

“In the city of Issaquah, there’s so much we can do and so much we do do for our vets,” Waggoner said. “They served when serving wasn’t popular, especially in Vietnam. They served when serving was hard.”

Cliff LeCompte and Ivan Lee were awarded Veteran of the Year by the VFW post for their work in helping veterans to have housing and healthcare.

Waggoner was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

“I’ve never observed someone so passionate about veterans, who cares so deeply about all veterans,” Van Dyke said upon presenting Waggoner with the award.

Waggoner thanked all the citizens of Issaquah for their efforts to help local veterans.

“I’m proud to call this my home,” he said.

At 97 and 91, respectively, Jack Steidl and Nick Grossi were the two veterans at the event who had served during World War II.

Steidl worked as a primary flight instructor for the Army Air Corps in Jackson, Tennessee during the Second World War. His wife, Kate Kaluzny, told the Reporter that because Steidl “could see the war coming” years before it did, he learned to fly a plane in college.

As a child, Steidl had seen pictures of the carnage of World War I in a book on his parents’ coffee table. Not wanting to suffer a slow death in the trenches, Steidl decided he’d rather die in a pilot’s seat.

“I preferred to be shot down nice and clean,” Steidl reminisced in a birthday letter written in April.

Grossi was not even able to finish high school before the U.S. Military called him up to serve in 1943, when he was just 18. Before he was even old enough to vote at the time, he was fighting in the Battle of the Bulge.

While fighting in Dahl, Luxembourg , Grossi and the rest of his unit found were wounded by German shrapnel. The shrapnel wounded Grossi on his lap so badly that it ripped through three layers of clothing, but because Grossi was still able to walk, it was determined that he should be the one to notify the headquarter group of the casualties.

Grossi hurried through the snow as best he could after being wounded, all the while dodging enemy fire.

The biggest surprise came for Grossi when he met Germans for the first time. He explained how the ‘us versus them’ mentality of war can spread hatred and lies about the enemy.

“We had been indoctrinated to hate the Germans — we couldn’t wait to get into Germany to see these terrible people,” Grossi said. “It turns out they were just the opposite.”

VFW Post 3436 Vice Commander David Waggoner presents Mayor Fred Butler, a fellow veteran, with a new flag for the city. Nicole Jennings/staff photo

Issaquah City Council President Stacy Goodman speaks about the sacrifice of the veterans in her own family. Nicole Jennings/staff photo

Waggoner (center) is presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award from VFW Post 3436 Commander Dean Van Dyke. Nicole Jennings/staff photo

Veteran Jack Steidl, 97, and his wife Kate Kaluzny were full of smiles after the ceremony. Nicole Jennings/staff photo

Nick Grossi, 91, was wounded during the Battle of the Bulge, which raged between December 1944 and January 1945 in Belgium, Luxembourg and France. Nicole Jennings/staff photo