Service & Sacrifice:
War Through the Eyes of U.P. Veterans

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Jim Provost

MARQUETTE — When you talk to Jim Provost about everything he’s been able to accomplish for Marquette County Veterans, you can’t help but wonder how he does it all. But it doesn’t take long to understand why. Provost himself is a Vietnam veteran. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps ...

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Serving on a Floating City

MARQUETTE — You can’t miss Jim Feliciano when he’s headed to the Jacobetti Home for Veteran’s. He’ll be the one in a colorful Hawaiin shirt. ““If I can help, that is what I am here to do,” he said. “When (Jacobetti center veterans) see me come in with my Hawaiian shirt on, ...

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Building bridges during the Vietnam War

MARQUETTE — When you sit down and talk to Charlie Hawes in his home in Marquette, his easy manner makes it hard, at first, to connect the fact that the decorated veteran served in the U.S. Navy during Vietnam “I joined because I figured it was my duty, obligation. But it was also always ...

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Bill Hager

NATIONAL MINE — Bill Hager is a force to be reckoned with. His military service is unique because he served in two different branches before finally retiring. Hager did a stint in the U.S. Navy as an electricians mate from 1963-67. Then in 1977, he joined the U.S. Army serving from ...

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A lifetime of Navy Service

MARQUETTE - Tony Troutman grew up in Hawaii, the son of a U.S. Navy officer. He followed in his family tradition by spending about 30 years in the line of duty himself. Troutman served in the from 1975 to 1997 and then served in the reserves for 8 years. “I grew up watching the military ...

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Be The Change

MARQUETTE - Kathy Andel has worn green for a lot of her life, although lately it’s green and gold. Andel walked into our interview wearing a Northern Michigan t-shirt that said “We can be the change.” She was one of the first women to serve in the Army as a licensed practical nurse ...

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‘The Blue Devils’

MARQUETTE — When Wilho Ritola, now 93, joined the U.S. Army in June 1946, the lifelong Republic resident found himself rapidly propelled into a new way of life. “I enlisted at 4’o clock one afternoon in Marquette,” he said. “I was on the 400 train on the way to Chicago the next ...

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‘Good as done’

MARQUETTE — When Dan Atkins departed Ishpeming for special training in Indiana prior to his deployment to Iraq in 2004, it was impossible to truly fathom or prepare for what awaited him on the other side of the world. “It was just different all together because of ... the barriers that we ...