Veteran’s Day gathering

A Veteran’s Day breakfast on Friday, Nov. 11, drew more than 200 veterans, family and local dignitaries to the Mammoth Lakes Fire Station. The breakfast, staged with the participation of several local government agencies and service organizations, honored veterans and current service members from WWII through present-day military actions.

Among those veterans in attendance: two men from what’s become known as “the Greatest Generation,” Robert Stroud and Sam Taleferro, both of whom saw action in WWII. Taleferro started the war in the Canadian Air Force, but later joined up with the Army Air Corps and flew P-51 Mustang fighter planes against the German Luftwaffe’s Afrikacorps squadrons in the North African theater.

Among the memorabilia on display, a copy of a 2000 proclamation from the Korean government, issued only to verified U.S. Korean Conflict veterans, thanking them and the United States for invaluable assistance. The one on display was courtesy of Korea veteran and now south Mono County resident Harry Zappe. According to Mono County Supervisor Hap Hazard, himself a U.S. Air Force veteran, the Korean government is the only nation that has ever formally thanked the United States for military assistance and intervention.