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Honoring the Fallen, Remembering the Past
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Tuesday, May 30, 2017
 

STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

The sound of “Taps” and “Star Spangled Banner” reverberated in the minds of Ned Hamlin and Bill Resko as they walked a 2.5-mile loop up Sun Valley Road and down Saddle Road Monday morning.

“I was thinking of the significance of the two songs and how my eyes always water when I hear ‘Taps,’” said Hamlin.

“My hair always stands up on the back of my neck when I hear it,” said Resko.

Hamlin and Resko served in the Vietnam War. And on Memorial Day they and their wives Cindy Hamlin and Nancy Resko joined dozens of others in a Carry the Load walk that took them from Ketchum Town Square to the Ketchum Cemetery where they remembered fallen soldiers who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

Hamlin and Resko became acquainted with each others’ military service when they took part in a Vietnam Veterans camp Higher Ground Sun Valley staged for Vietnam veterans and their spouses at the Middle Fork Lodge.

Resko served in the Navy from 1966 to 1968 looking for the enemy from small riverine craft that plied the Mekong River.

“It was scary as hell,” he said.

Hamlin flew over the delta looking for Viet Cong from a helicopter.

“I’m sure I flew over Bill at some point,” he said. “I had to.”

The two were among the first Vietnam veterans Higher Ground attended to as the organization expanded its therapeutic recreation services beyond serving Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers.

“It’s an awesome organization. It was the first time I was recognized as a Vietnam veteran and it was a positive experience,” said Resko. “Thirty, 40 years after the war someone said, ‘Thanks.’”

“Guys who served in Vietnam don’t normally talk about their experience. But during that week we sat around and listened to what others went through—what they did in the war, what happened when they got home. It was life changing,” added Hamlin.

Higher Ground Sun Valley made Ketchum one of 40 cities nationwide participating in the Carry the Load observance. The observance was started by a former veteran a few years ago to ensure people spent Memorial Day remembering fallen service members,  rather than simply use the day as an excuse to sit on the porch and drink beer, said Kate Weihe, director of Higher Ground Sun Valley.

Former Navy SEAL Monty Heath, who now works with Higher Ground, offered a few comments before the walk, honoring his friend Neil Roberts, who became the first Navy SEAL killed in the Afghanistan War when he was shot trying to rout al Qaeda forces in what became known as the Battle of Roberts Ridge.

Beau Boss, a 2014 graduate of Wood River High School now serving in the Army National Guard, carried a hundred pounds of food cans and combat gear on his back as he made the walk.

“I haven’t seen combat, although I was trained to fight,” he said. “I work as a cook, flipping burgers and making MREs (meals ready to eat). And, in turn, the Army is paying me to go to college—I either want to go into criminal justice or be a recruiter for the Army.”

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