Jackson,  Mich. (WKHM, Greg O’Connor) — November 11 is the day we reflect on our dedicated members of the military – Veterans Day.

In Jackson, I remember the first Jackson soldier killed in Vietnam – he was just 18. Michael Medley died from a sniper’s bullet November 8, 1965. Just months earlier he was attending dances at Jackson High School. I was 13 and couldn’t fully comprehend.

Fast forward to June 6, 2007, Army Sargent Matthew Soper with the 1461st Transportation Company, was killed in a suicide bombing in Iraq. Friends called him “Big Slick.” He was just 25, I was 55, and I still couldn’t fully comprehend. I knew his dad and it was painful.

We recently lost one of our many World War II legends, US Army Captain Herb Elfring. He passed at the age of 102 and was one of the few remaining Pearl Harbor Survivors. Elfring’s good buddy (and he had quite a few), Joe Wolfe reflects:

The late Army Aircorp Lieutenant Lee Zimmerman was shot down on a bombing run in Germany, was captured, and spent 7 months as a war prisoner with 24 men. He survived the small bunkhouse and horrible weather conditions and lived to talk about it: