Honoring Veterans

In honor of Veterans Day this year, Emily Rundell presented several Lincoln veterans with commemorative coins to thank them for their service.

"I just wanted to do something special," she said.

Rundell presented the coins, bearing the inscription that "A Veteran is someone who wrote a blank check made payable to the the United States for an amount of up to and including their life," on behalf of her family.

For Rundell, Veterans Day has always hit close to home. She said she comes from a family full of veterans. Both her brothers, Douglass Hopper and Philip Johndrow served in Iraq. Johndrow, a retired Division Command Sgt. Major with 33 yers of service, was recognized in 2008 for having spent a total of 42 months in Iraq.Rundell said t one point both her brothers and three nephews were all serving there. She also said her step-father served in Vietnam and her father and uncles served in World War II.

"I come from a long line of veterans, and I love my country," she said.

Rundell said she feels the are a lot of veterans in Lincoln who haven't gotten the appreciation they deserve for their service.

For most veterans today, coins are as much a part of military tradition as dog tags and the hand salute. The presentation of coins has a long history, with stories of the tradition's origin varying from an Army Air Service unit in WWI, to the Special Forces groups in the early '60's, to an infantryman's bar during Vietnam.

Regardless, "Challenge Coins" have become a significant part of military culture, often times serving as substitute 'on the spot' awards from leaders or units, in recognition of notable accomplishments.

"I just think the veterans need to be recognized more," she said, noting that Lincoln has always had a significant population of vets.

Rundell recalled a long list of veterans from Lincoln including - but not limited to - the late Gary Holm, who survived Pearl Harbor, and Len Lambkin Jr. who died in Germany and had the now-inactive Lincoln VFW post named in his honor, to Vietnam veterans like Denny Peterson and Jerry Burns and the veterans of the Global War on Terror conflicts like Rick Foreman, Dawn Charron and Aaron Birkholz, as well as the veterans who served throughout the Cold War era. The list, which included her late husband Dan, was a long one.

"There's a lot of history here in Lincoln. It's sad so many of them are gone," she said.

While Rundell honors all veterans, she only had 15 of the coins for veterans she specifically wanted to recognize. She handed out 10 of them on Nov. 11 and will present the last of them to five more local veterans she wants to honor as soon as she can.