Six residents of Southern Hills Speciality Care were awarded with quilts of valor at an award ceremony on Oct. 2. This six awarded were Rita DeLong, Ray Halda, Peggy McDole, Al Morter, Harley Pippen and Darrell Wogan. The quilts were sewn by Mary Ann Smith and Kathy Sharp, and presented by the Osceola American Legion Davis-Pence Post #69.
DeLong
Rita DeLong was inducted into the United States Air Force in 1980 in Des Moines. She attended basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonino, Texas, and was stationed at Offit Air Force Base in Omaha. There, she received training in telecommunications, and had top-secret clearance.
DeLong’s enlistment period ended in 1983, and she was discharged with the rank of E1. She moved back to Osceola, and worked at Miller Products.
Halda
Ray Halda served in the United States Army from 1954 to 1957. He attended basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and was then sent to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, for mechanics training. He served overseas in Vanbry, Germany, for a year and a half as a wheel vehicle mechanic. Halda was then transferred to Fort Riley, Kansas, where he performed maintenance on helicopters.
Halda was a Private First Class when he was discharged in 1957 at Fort Riley. He went on to work as a truck driver, which he did until retirement.
McDole
Peggy McDole joined the United States Air Force on March 3, 1972 in Two Falls, South Dakota; she attended basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. McDone went to technical school training at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, where she trained as a medical assistant. There, McDole remembers helping patients who had malaria, and those who had been exposed to Agent Orange.
McDole received a medical discharge in 1976 in Topeka, Kansas. Her rank was that of Airman First Class.
In 1988, McDole moved to Clarke County where she worked as a medical assistant and dietary assistant at the nursing home.
Morter
Al Morter served in the United States Air Force from Sept. 18, 1956 to Sept. 17, 1962. He was inducted at Fremont, Nebraska, and attended basic training in San Antonio, Texas at Lackland Air Force Base; training school was also completed at Lackland. Morter was assigned to the Greenland Air Force Base, working on Production Repair.
Upon his discharge, Morter was an Airman Second Class with the rank of E3. His civilian career was that of working in the appliance repair business.
Pippen
Harley Pippen joined the United States Army in 1958, and completed basic training at Fort Carson, Colorado. There, he continued his training as a medical corpsman, and often drove an ambulance.
After two years at Fort Carson, Pippen was discharged with a rank of E5. Pippen returned home to Woodburn where he farmed with his father. He had two older brothers who served in the military during World War II.
Wogan
Darrell Wogan joined the United States Navy in 1958 in Marshalltown. He went to San Diego for basic training, and additional training as a Flight Navigator took him to Whidbey Island, Washington and Midway Island. Stateside duty stations he was assigned to where USS Forrestal and USS Oglethorpe. Overseas duty stations were Far East tour to Midway Island aboard the USS Salisbury Sound, the USS Ranger, the USS Forrestal, and a returned to USS Oglethorpe as a trainer.
Wogan was discharged at Whidbey Island Naval Base in 1968, with an ending rank of Petty Officer second class - E5. He then returned to Marshalltown and joined the police force, which he stayed on for one year. Wogan later worked in the dairy industry in Washington state.