Fil WW2 vet
observes Veterans Day
By ROSE SAN DIEGO
December 1, 2015
CHICAGO – Early
morning on Veterans Day, one of Balangiga Bells staunch advocate for
recovering the historic church bells is Filipino WWII veteran Jaime
Pesongco.
He began his day by visiting
the local IHOP Restaurant in Wrigleyville. In his American Legion
attire, he was greeted by many patrons thanking him for his service
and contribution. WWII vet Pesongco also thanked other veterans seated
among the early breakfast crowd from different campaigns such as
Korea, Vietnam and the Iraq wars. The IHOP franchise served him up
their fancy Red, White & Blue Pancakes with eggs and beacon on the
side, complimentary to all veterans on that special day.
Then off to the JB-VA
Medical Center to hear the program put on by other veterans and guest.
This would be the first indoor event attended, in the past he was
always at Soldiers Field with a program hosted by the City of Chicago.
Due to brisk temperatures in
November along the lake front, it was best not to sit outside in the
cool weather for the hour long event as in years past.
Hosting the VA program was
Connie's Pizza, boxes towering tall, serving a variety of their famous
pizzas to the veterans. The pizza chain has been known to cater to
Chicago sports events in the area when teams are in season.
Ninety-five year young WWII
vet Jaime Pesongco made it a point to personally extend his gratitude
of appreciation to Connie's Pizza owner/president Mr. Michael Stolfe
for not only being a valuable host but most importantly for his
presence and camaraderie on Veterans Day 2015 at the JBVAMC.