Honoring Our Veterans
This page is dedicated to honoring the Veterans in our community for their service and telling their stories.
What Tom Brokaw referred to as "The Greatest Generation" is quickly declining in number. This, of course, refers to not only our World War II Veterans but also to the families that supported those veterans in the war effort. These are some of the veteran's personal stories pertaining to their own war efforts. It's the club's hope that should you be so inclined, you will reach out individually to these veterans and get to know them a little better.
We will start with the World War II Veterans as we do not want to lose their stories. The goal is then to get stories from all Sunflower Veterans. Click on the veterans name below their picture to read that veteran's story.
United States Marine Corps Corporal Lars Ejrup
United States Marine Corps Corporal Lars Ejrup was drafted in New York City in 1966 as an immigrant to serve during the Vietnam era. He was sent to Parris Island for basic training, and after eight weeks, he was assigned to Camp Del Mar Marine Base, CA, for additional training. Before his assignment, Lars was tested and selected for pilot training. However, due to his immigrant status, he was instead assigned to tracked vehicle repair school at Camp Del Mar. Following his training, he began his long journey to Da Nang, Vietnam. His unit was loaded onto ships and, over the next two weeks, the flotilla traveled at approximately 6.5 knots to Hawaii. They stopped there for routine maintenance. After departing Hawaii, two days out, one of the main engines broke down completely. From then on they continued to Guam at the speed 3.5 knots (!) to replace the broken engine. This delayed the journey by an additional twelve days. Upon arriving in Da Nang, Lars supported vehicle maintenance along the perimeter of the airfield and assisted in recovering damaged vehicles in the field. In March 1967, he was promoted to Lance Corporal in the Armored Amphibian Company. Several officers in his unit assisted Lars in his efforts to obtain U.S. citizenship before his discharge. However, the law required five years of residency in the United States, including six months in one state. Because of his service to America, including a year in Vietnam, he was unable to meet these requirements until after his discharge and return home. Lars was very proud of his service.
