veteran’s corner

Les Bakke
lesbakke@gmail.com
Ervind Strandberg, Strathcona, MN. entered the US Army in August 1956. Following basic training he married Janice Hamberg in October. Ervind arrived in Vietnam on 26 May 1966 and was assigned to C Company 28 Infantry Regiment. Specialist Fourth Class Strandberg was killed in action on 3 January 1967 in the Binh Duong province of South Vietnam. He left a wife, Janice and baby girl, Heidi to mourn his death. Several years later, when Heidi was an adult out riding her favorite horse, she happened upon a young man riding his favorite horse. The young man was my brother, Larry. Over the following months they learned they had more in common than horses and were married. The marriage produced three children, Craig, Nikki and Jessie. Jessie passed away last week following a four-year battle with cancer. Jessie was only 39 years old.
From her obituary Jessie true passion was heling anyone in need and volunteering her time. If she knew that you were going through hard times she would be at your door with food and eagerness to volunteer her husband Jason for any type of manual labor. She was quiet but loud with love. She was competitive but generous with her heart. She was stern but full of compassion. She was soft but rebel cowgirl tough. She was a leader but always put you first. She is gone but she is there because she will always be in your heart. Jessie was an outdoors person who loved hunting, fishing, riding horse and riding motorcycle. She was an American Legion Rider, owning her own motorcycle.
As I read her obituary and talked with her friends, I realized there was a lot more to this woman than I knew. We didn’t see each other often. She was young and there was plenty of time. Now that time is gone.
Most of us have busy lives, yes even in retirement, we are busy. We often forget to connect with those close to us but happen to be a couple hundred miles away. So, I challenge each and every one of you to reach out to those people today. With all of the methods of communication we have today, it is not difficult. Call relatives and old-time friends during a quite time and get reacquainted, send an email, open a video chat session, become Facebook friends, or use that old fashion method and write a letter.
In addition, reminisce about your own life and write down those events that made you what you are today. Make sure to include some of the embarrassing events as well as the major accomplishments. We are all gone to quickly and we should leave something to be remembered. Veterans also have the opportunity to submit stories to the Veterans History Project hosted by the Library of Congress.