WEBVTT 00:00:00.770 --> 00:00:10.899 - OK, people. Hello. OK. Can you hear me? I can hear you. I hope you can hear me. And if we quiet down, 00:00:10.899 --> 00:00:20.929 - I think you can. I hope you can. And I apologize to those of you in the back who do not have chairs. 00:00:20.929 --> 00:00:26.590 - This is how many chairs they have here. And we're great. 00:00:27.010 --> 00:00:35.013 - for this big crowd. Sorry, we don't have seats for everyone. There are three seats still up front. So 00:00:35.013 --> 00:00:43.409 - please figure out, draw straws, and figure out who could come up to get them. OK? Well, let's get started. 00:00:43.409 --> 00:00:51.256 - My name's Dave Nord, and I'm the Monroe County historian, which is a volunteer appointment in every 00:00:51.256 --> 00:00:56.670 - county, a historian by the Indiana Historical Society in the Indiana 00:00:57.026 --> 00:01:05.547 - History Bureau. And I welcome you all here today. I'm the Monroe County guy. But in a few minutes, I'll 00:01:05.547 --> 00:01:13.740 - introduce somebody from the Indiana Historical Bureau. We're here today to honor and to historicize 00:01:13.740 --> 00:01:22.752 - our community's most highly decorated soldier, Gary Kisters. And I use the pompous academic term historicize, 00:01:22.752 --> 00:01:25.374 - because I'm a pompous academic. 00:01:26.370 --> 00:01:34.942 - By that, all I mean is to place into history, local history, state history, national history. Gary Kister's 00:01:34.942 --> 00:01:43.038 - has been honored several times in Bloomington and Monroe County, but the marker that we're dedicating 00:01:43.038 --> 00:01:50.975 - today outside is a historical marker. It's a state historical marker authorized and approved by the 00:01:50.975 --> 00:01:53.118 - Indiana Historical Bureau. 00:01:53.794 --> 00:02:01.019 - And I think that's important, and that's why we're talking about history today, and I'll get onto that 00:02:01.019 --> 00:02:08.173 - in a few minutes. But first, I would like to introduce Casey Pfeiffer, who is representing, she's the 00:02:08.173 --> 00:02:15.397 - manager of the Historical Marker Program for the Indiana Historical Bureau. And she'll say a few words 00:02:15.397 --> 00:02:22.622 - about the program, and then we'll turn back to the program itself. So Casey, you want to come up here? 00:02:28.002 --> 00:02:33.026 - Thank you guys so much. Thank you, Dave. My name is Casey Pfeiffer. I'm the Historical Marker Program 00:02:33.026 --> 00:02:38.049 - Director at the Indiana Historical Bureau, and I'm just so thrilled to be able to be here today as we 00:02:38.049 --> 00:02:43.023 - get ready to dedicate this new marker honoring Gary Kisters. The Historical Bureau's division of the 00:02:43.023 --> 00:02:48.047 - Indiana State Library, and our mission is to share the rich history of our state. Over the years, 100 00:02:48.047 --> 00:02:48.638 - plus years, 00:02:48.738 --> 00:02:53.669 - We have endeavored to do that through numerous programs and projects, but the most notable and visible 00:02:53.669 --> 00:02:58.743 - of those has been the State Historical Marker Program. It is a collaborative program. It's public-driven. 00:02:58.743 --> 00:03:03.721 - We cannot do what we do without the interest of people across the state who are committed to preserving 00:03:03.721 --> 00:03:08.269 - our history. And with that in mind, I just want to very briefly thank former county historian, 00:03:08.269 --> 00:03:13.151 - Glenda Murray, who initiated this project and spearheaded the application. There's a lot of work that 00:03:13.151 --> 00:03:18.082 - goes into these projects. It's limited text, but there's a lot to make sure that that text is accurate 00:03:18.082 --> 00:03:18.704 - and provides 00:03:18.704 --> 00:03:19.358 - you know. 00:03:19.586 --> 00:03:24.720 - wonderful representation of the topic. I, of course, also want to thank Dave, current county historian. 00:03:24.720 --> 00:03:29.953 - He's been my main point of contact in this for the last few months. And he's really taken over the mantle 00:03:29.953 --> 00:03:35.038 - and working really hard to preserve the history here. So we're very appreciative. And then, of course, 00:03:35.038 --> 00:03:40.172 - to the Monroe County Airport and to the Monroe County History Center for all of their work, sponsoring, 00:03:40.172 --> 00:03:44.961 - funding, helping with installation, everything, like I said, that goes into these projects. And, 00:03:44.961 --> 00:03:49.552 - of course, finally, to the Kisters family. Thank you so much for being here and for the work 00:03:49.552 --> 00:03:54.753 - that you've done to preserve his memory. Markers are snapshots. They're tangible reminders of our past. 00:03:54.753 --> 00:03:59.853 - Over the course of just a few sentences, they help to inform and educate us about the people, places, 00:03:59.853 --> 00:04:05.054 - events, and organizations that have helped to shape the history of our state and nation. And of course, 00:04:05.054 --> 00:04:08.254 - Lieutenant Kisters is worthy of this recognition. This is today 00:04:08.610 --> 00:04:14.035 - One of over 800 markers that have been installed since the marker program began in 1946. It's our eighth 00:04:14.035 --> 00:04:19.253 - marker to be dedicated this year. And of those eight, it's our third that actually looks at military 00:04:19.253 --> 00:04:24.626 - history in our state. So we dedicated a marker back in June for Major George Slaughter, a Revolutionary 00:04:24.626 --> 00:04:29.845 - War soldier down in Clark County. We dedicated one back in May for Lieutenant Colonel William Swain, 00:04:29.845 --> 00:04:35.011 - who was a Civil War veteran, and then here today to look at someone who served in World War II. And 00:04:35.011 --> 00:04:38.576 - it's really our hope that with this marker, it is a lasting reminder 00:04:38.576 --> 00:04:46.143 - reminder of Lieutenant Gary Kister's contributions to our state, to our country, and his deep ties to 00:04:46.143 --> 00:04:53.562 - the community and all the work he did post-war. So thank you all so much for allowing me to be here 00:04:53.562 --> 00:05:01.129 - and be part of this wonderful program. Thank you, Casey. And she's done most of the thank yous, so we 00:05:01.129 --> 00:05:06.174 - won't turn this into a thank you fast. This isn't a TV awards show. 00:05:06.370 --> 00:05:13.591 - But I was going to mention Glenda Murray, who brought this project, did most of the work on the project, 00:05:13.591 --> 00:05:20.606 - and particularly the airport staff and management board, who supported not just this gathering today, 00:05:20.606 --> 00:05:27.483 - but the marker itself with money and with work. And so I really appreciate that. And one group that 00:05:27.483 --> 00:05:34.910 - deserves some thanks are the Daughters of the American Revolution, local chapter, who are providing us with 00:05:35.138 --> 00:05:44.118 - Snacks to Dan, snacks. That counts, snacks count. But let's get on with the history, with the historicization 00:05:44.118 --> 00:05:52.281 - here. And I'll start myself and then turn it over to my colleagues here up at the front table. When 00:05:52.281 --> 00:05:57.342 - Gary Kistors returned to the United States after his service, 00:05:57.730 --> 00:06:06.137 - in Africa and Sicily in 1944, early 1944. He was presented with the Distinguished Service Cross and 00:06:06.137 --> 00:06:14.544 - with the Congressional Medal of Honor in Washington D.C. by Army Chief of Staff George Marshall and 00:06:14.544 --> 00:06:22.951 - President of the United States Franklin Roosevelt. And this was big news all over the country. I've 00:06:22.951 --> 00:06:27.070 - been looking at news stories from February 1944. 00:06:27.330 --> 00:06:35.253 - And the paper, all the papers had this story from east to west coast. The reason why they did is because 00:06:35.253 --> 00:06:43.177 - Kistors was the first American serviceman to be honored with both of those high awards. And I've printed 00:06:43.177 --> 00:06:50.949 - for you several of the news stories that are a packet in the back. One is from the New York Times that 00:06:50.949 --> 00:06:55.326 - has the presentation story from Washington, and the other 00:06:55.618 --> 00:07:02.775 - There are two others about Bloomington and Kister's coming to Bloomington after he left Washington. 00:07:02.775 --> 00:07:10.075 - And be sure to pick those up. I decided to print those for you. I think I have enough for all of you. 00:07:10.075 --> 00:07:17.518 - And if I don't, tell me about it and I'll get one to you. But there's one new story that I particularly 00:07:17.518 --> 00:07:25.534 - like that I didn't copy for you. And it was in Women's Wear Daily. Women's Wear Daily was then and still is now 00:07:26.114 --> 00:07:34.175 - the leading trade publication of the fashion and apparel industry in New York City. And their story, 00:07:34.175 --> 00:07:42.396 - I didn't copy it because it's essentially the same wire service story that you see in other clippings. 00:07:42.396 --> 00:07:50.218 - But there was a twist that I really liked, and the twist is this, the headline. The headline was, 00:07:50.218 --> 00:07:55.326 - Ex-Fur Man, First Soldier to Win Too High Decorations. Fur Man. 00:07:56.514 --> 00:08:05.418 - Yes, Gary Kissers was a fur man. He was a furrier. He had a fur store before the war, and he had a fur 00:08:05.418 --> 00:08:14.062 - store after the war, selling fur coats, stoles, scarves, etc. He was not a professional soldier. He 00:08:14.062 --> 00:08:23.053 - was a citizen soldier. For women's wear daily, that was important. He was one of them. He was in retail 00:08:23.053 --> 00:08:25.214 - trade. He was their guy. 00:08:26.978 --> 00:08:37.507 - So Women's Wear Daily highlighted his retail trade position as much as his military service. The citizen 00:08:37.507 --> 00:08:47.936 - soldier has been an ideal type throughout American history. The citizen soldier is an ordinary American 00:08:47.936 --> 00:08:51.646 - who answers the call of the country. 00:08:52.642 --> 00:09:00.382 - when needed, serves faithfully, and then goes home, goes back to family and community, back to ordinary 00:09:00.382 --> 00:09:07.675 - life. This ideal, this tradition, dates back to the American Revolution and even before. In 1776, 00:09:07.675 --> 00:09:15.117 - in fact, one of the American's grievances, which was listed in the Declaration of Independence, was 00:09:15.117 --> 00:09:19.806 - the presence of professional British soldiers in the colonies. 00:09:19.970 --> 00:09:28.599 - The Americans hated so-called standing armies. They preferred local militias of citizen soldiers. Often, 00:09:28.599 --> 00:09:36.982 - this was a big mistake during that war. In the early years of the Revolution, the war was nearly lost 00:09:36.982 --> 00:09:45.529 - several times because of the ineptitude of the American amateurs, the citizen soldiers. But in the end, 00:09:45.529 --> 00:09:48.734 - they won. And even General Washington, 00:09:49.122 --> 00:09:57.366 - who was about as close as the Americans could get to military professionalism, was a species of citizen 00:09:57.366 --> 00:10:05.293 - soldier. Throughout the war, Washington complained and whined incessantly to the Congress about the 00:10:05.293 --> 00:10:13.219 - need that the Army had for more professional personnel, for organization, for support. Sometimes he 00:10:13.219 --> 00:10:19.006 - got it, sometimes not. But when the war finally ended, after eight long, 00:10:19.170 --> 00:10:28.758 - years, Washington resigned his commission and went home. He thus became an American popular history 00:10:28.758 --> 00:10:38.730 - and lore, the personification of the citizen soldier. And so it was with Jerry, Gary Kisters. He served 00:10:38.730 --> 00:10:48.798 - faithfully, heroically, and then he went home. He operated a fur shop in Bloomington. And by doing that, 00:10:49.474 --> 00:10:58.646 - He made his military heroism all the more inspiring. It suggested that anyone can be a hero. Kister's 00:10:58.646 --> 00:11:07.728 - citations, I thought I would read to you and then I decided the better thing to do would be to print 00:11:07.728 --> 00:11:16.990 - them in full for you to read. So there's copies of the citations for the two awards back on the table. 00:11:17.090 --> 00:11:26.469 - The program, of course, is back there along with the clippings. The last sentence, and the marker itself 00:11:26.469 --> 00:11:35.580 - describes the awards. The last sentence of the Distinguished Service Cross citation, I think, sums up 00:11:35.580 --> 00:11:43.262 - both of them pretty well. The extraordinary heroism, initiative, and devotion to duty 00:11:43.554 --> 00:11:52.297 - with complete disregard for his own welfare displayed by Staff Sergeant Kisters reflect great credit 00:11:52.297 --> 00:12:01.560 - upon himself and the military service and are deserving of the highest praise. Now, let's put Gary Kisters 00:12:01.560 --> 00:12:09.438 - into historical context. What I'll do is introduce three speakers today. They'll be brief. 00:12:10.946 --> 00:12:19.762 - I'll introduce all three of them right now and then they'll take turns. Our first speaker will be Nick 00:12:19.762 --> 00:12:28.320 - Cullither talking about the historical context of Kisters in World War II. That is the war in North 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:37.050 - Africa and Sicily and Italy. Nick is a professor of 20th century diplomatic history and international 00:12:37.050 --> 00:12:38.334 - affairs at IU. 00:12:41.922 --> 00:12:50.597 - Our next speaker will be John Summerlot, who will talk about the role of military veterans in the life 00:12:50.597 --> 00:12:59.104 - of Bloomington and Monroe County, both in the past and in the present. And John is a local historian 00:12:59.104 --> 00:13:07.612 - who specializes in IU history, as well as Monroe County Military and Veterans Affairs. And our third 00:13:07.612 --> 00:13:11.486 - speaker will be Justin Robertson at this end. 00:13:12.002 --> 00:13:20.464 - give us some personal reflections on Gary Kister's life in post-war Bloomington. Justin is operations 00:13:20.464 --> 00:13:29.091 - manager at the Monroe County History Center, and lucky for us today, he's Gary Kister's nephew. We also 00:13:29.091 --> 00:13:37.719 - have with us today several people from the Kister's family, children and grandchildren, and Justin will 00:13:37.719 --> 00:13:39.710 - introduce them as well. 00:13:39.938 --> 00:13:49.850 - when he speaks. So let me turn it over, the mic over now to Nick, and he'll start us off. Nick, 00:13:49.850 --> 00:14:00.381 - thank you. Thanks. Thank you, Dave. The first thing you have to understand about why Gary Kisters was 00:14:00.381 --> 00:14:06.782 - in North Africa and Spain is that it wasn't an American idea. 00:14:08.514 --> 00:14:16.271 - The American command structure from the Secretary of War on down to every general and planner on the 00:14:16.271 --> 00:14:24.182 - general staff knew that the best way to get to the heart of Germany quickly, the best way to bring the 00:14:24.182 --> 00:14:31.863 - war to a quick end, and the best way to take the pressure off the Soviet Union, which was always in 00:14:31.863 --> 00:14:38.238 - danger of pulling out of the war, was to go through France and Operation Overlord, 00:14:38.722 --> 00:14:47.919 - was planned very early on, and this was the American idea, was we move across the channel, we get into 00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:56.847 - France quickly, and it was thought to be good tank country on the inside of that Atlantic wall, and 00:14:56.847 --> 00:15:05.776 - you do battle with the Germans right there. But the invasions of North Africa and Italy, operations 00:15:05.776 --> 00:15:07.294 - Torch and Husky, 00:15:08.098 --> 00:15:16.666 - solved a strategic problem for Britain. The Battle of Dunkirk had left Britain's forces divided. Half 00:15:16.666 --> 00:15:25.318 - the army was located in Cairo, cut off from the rest of Europe by Rommel's Africa Corps, and the other 00:15:25.318 --> 00:15:34.054 - half in the British Isles itself. So in order to concentrate those forces, they needed to somehow break 00:15:34.054 --> 00:15:37.246 - through that and bring them together. 00:15:38.178 --> 00:15:45.337 - Montgomery's victory at the Battle of El Alamein, which kind of turned the tide in North Africa, didn't 00:15:45.337 --> 00:15:52.428 - really solve that problem. They were still marooned over on that side. German planes flying from bases 00:15:52.428 --> 00:15:59.793 - on both sides of the Mediterranean controlled that sea. And so ships couldn't move freely through, through 00:15:59.793 --> 00:16:06.884 - there. And it was hazardous for the Royal Navy to even resupply their troops in Africa. Churchill came 00:16:06.884 --> 00:16:07.710 - to America. 00:16:07.842 --> 00:16:16.439 - in two conferences known as the Second and Third Atlantic Conferences to make the case for a war on 00:16:16.439 --> 00:16:25.466 - what he called the soft underbelly of the axis to try to start the war by coming in through North Africa 00:16:25.466 --> 00:16:34.321 - and Italy. An idea that knocking Italy out of the war would be a psychological victory that would turn 00:16:34.321 --> 00:16:36.126 - the tide of the war. 00:16:36.322 --> 00:16:44.293 - The Americans were unanimously against it. The thing they were most afraid of was that Churchill would 00:16:44.293 --> 00:16:52.341 - somehow get FDR alone by himself. He could be tremendously persuasive. He was a hard man to argue with. 00:16:52.341 --> 00:17:00.312 - His wife, Clemmie, knew better than to argue with Winston. She said, Winston is a professional arguer. 00:17:00.312 --> 00:17:05.342 - I don't do it. I just go to my bedroom and I write him a letter. 00:17:05.634 --> 00:17:15.282 - which may explain why, despite the fact that they live together their entire lives, they have over 800 00:17:15.282 --> 00:17:25.398 - letters. One another. But in the end, Churchill did get Roosevelt by himself. And in the end, he prevailed. 00:17:25.398 --> 00:17:32.798 - His best argument was that American troops had no experience in modern combat. 00:17:33.762 --> 00:17:42.369 - And this notion of the citizen soldier was part of that idea. There was a conviction on the part of 00:17:42.369 --> 00:17:51.235 - our European allies that Americans weren't good fighters. They were too wrapped up in our consumerism, 00:17:51.235 --> 00:18:00.187 - maybe our furs, to be good fighters. And Churchill argued that the Americans needed some time and maybe 00:18:00.187 --> 00:18:01.822 - a less intense war 00:18:02.242 --> 00:18:10.400 - in order to kind of build up their skills and develop the techniques. And particularly, the techniques 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:18.321 - of combined arms tactics involving a combination of air, sea, and land power, artillery, armor, and 00:18:18.321 --> 00:18:26.399 - infantry all operating in close coordination. It was a new technique of war, largely new to World War 00:18:26.399 --> 00:18:29.726 - II. And on this last point, he was right. 00:18:31.266 --> 00:18:46.666 - in the places where Gary Kisters fought in Tunis and in Sicily. If Kisters saw a plane, it was a German 00:18:46.666 --> 00:19:00.734 - plane, usually a Stuka. If he saw a tank, it would be a German tank. And so, is that my phone? 00:19:02.402 --> 00:19:10.504 - The Americans needed time to develop their techniques on this. And there was, you know, Kisters knew 00:19:10.504 --> 00:19:18.766 - in those settings that, you know, when the enemy was there, when they had the artillery, when they had 00:19:18.766 --> 00:19:26.787 - the tanks, when they had the planes, there was nobody coming to the rescue. They had to handle this 00:19:26.787 --> 00:19:30.878 - situation on their own. And hand grenades, rifles, 00:19:31.106 --> 00:19:39.318 - were pretty much all they had. Churchill was wrong, too. The underbelly of the Axis wasn't so soft. 00:19:39.318 --> 00:19:47.941 - Ernie Pyle was there. He said, the land and the weather were both against us. The country was shockingly 00:19:47.941 --> 00:19:56.564 - beautiful and just as shockingly hard to capture from the enemy. Historians would come to see Operations 00:19:56.564 --> 00:20:00.670 - Torch and Husky as where an inexperienced US Army 00:20:00.930 --> 00:20:10.009 - learned how to fight at a great cost. Kisters was in the 91st Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron. And despite 00:20:10.009 --> 00:20:18.579 - that name, the 91st was at the time the only reconnaissance squadron in the entire European theater. 00:20:18.579 --> 00:20:26.046 - The recon platoons traveled light. They traveled in jeeps and scout cars without armor. 00:20:27.266 --> 00:20:35.047 - They carried 1928 Model Thompson submachine guns, one heavy machine gun per platoon. They were meant 00:20:35.047 --> 00:20:43.060 - to probe ahead of the main units and take out machine gun nests and artillery positions. That was their 00:20:43.060 --> 00:20:50.995 - job. The Marines, at this point in the war, had a slogan that described what they did. They said their 00:20:50.995 --> 00:20:54.462 - job was to make the world safe for the Army. 00:20:55.106 --> 00:21:02.021 - Kister's platoon could easily say the same thing. This was their job, was to go out and make the world 00:21:02.021 --> 00:21:08.935 - safe for the advancing troops. And I, for one, am very thankful to him for that, because my father was 00:21:08.935 --> 00:21:15.850 - part of the same army. He went into North Africa and through Sicily and into Italy. And he was several 00:21:15.850 --> 00:21:22.832 - weeks behind Kister's, however. My father, for the duration of the war, never saw a single live German. 00:21:22.832 --> 00:21:24.510 - He was in the Air Corps. 00:21:25.698 --> 00:21:33.556 - in the Eighth Army Air Corps. And before I had cataracts, I did have eyeglasses, too, and my father 00:21:33.556 --> 00:21:41.729 - did his entire life. So he never flew a plane, either. His job was to guard them. So like Gary Kisters, 00:21:41.729 --> 00:21:49.902 - he was a staff sergeant, and he was standing there with a carbine trying to keep the Italians away from 00:21:49.902 --> 00:21:53.438 - the planes. In North Africa, Kisters and his 00:21:53.794 --> 00:22:02.959 - men met a formidable enemy in the Africa Corps led by General Erwin Rommel. Rommel found the seam between 00:22:02.959 --> 00:22:12.037 - the American and the British lines and drove through it at a place called the Kasserine Pass, inflicting 00:22:12.037 --> 00:22:19.646 - the most serious defeat on the Allies in the entire war. It could well have been worse. 00:22:20.354 --> 00:22:27.464 - But before Rommel could capture the Allied supply depot and push on toward the coast, which was his 00:22:27.464 --> 00:22:34.787 - plan, the Italian commander in that theater ordered him to attack in a different direction and thereby 00:22:34.787 --> 00:22:42.040 - saved the Allied advance. The recon troops, as usually happens on the ground, see very little of that 00:22:42.040 --> 00:22:47.870 - strategy. They don't really know what's happening in the larger sense of the war. 00:22:48.290 --> 00:22:55.599 - They only heard about those setbacks a few days and weeks later when they learned that their commanding 00:22:55.599 --> 00:23:02.627 - general, General Friedendahl, had been replaced by a new general named Patton. After the Kasserine, 00:23:02.627 --> 00:23:10.146 - the Allies steadily closed the ring around the Axis troops in Tunis. The 91st recon was given the toughest 00:23:10.146 --> 00:23:16.190 - job, clearing a German position atop a 1,500-foot mountain known as the Jebel Ichkud. 00:23:17.474 --> 00:23:25.480 - about 25 miles south of the Zerte. Pockmarked with caves, caves filled with battle-hardened troops of 00:23:25.480 --> 00:23:32.780 - the Hermann Göring Division. The citation doesn't say where the action in which Kisters won 00:23:32.780 --> 00:23:41.179 - the Distinguished Service Cross took place, but it was likely there. After that line gave way, the Germans 00:23:41.179 --> 00:23:46.046 - began evacuating the remnants of the Afrika Korps from Tunis. 00:23:47.650 --> 00:23:56.438 - Every year it seems there's a new movie about World War II. This year's movie, my wife and I, my wife's 00:23:56.438 --> 00:24:04.972 - in the back right there. So the other, when did we watch it? Yeah, the movie's called Pressure. Have 00:24:04.972 --> 00:24:13.759 - you seen this movie? It's actually a pretty good movie. It's worth watching, but I'm going to challenge 00:24:13.759 --> 00:24:14.942 - it right now. 00:24:15.170 --> 00:24:22.885 - It's about, quote, the 72 hours before D-Day, and with the fate of the free world hanging in the balance, 00:24:22.885 --> 00:24:30.528 - General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Group Captain James Stagg face an impossible choice, launch the largest 00:24:30.528 --> 00:24:37.952 - and most dangerous seaborne invasion in history or risk losing the war altogether. It's partly right. 00:24:37.952 --> 00:24:42.974 - It wasn't, however, the largest seaborne operation in world history. 00:24:43.522 --> 00:24:52.033 - not in fact even the largest seaborne operation commanded by Dwight Eisenhower. That would be the operation 00:24:52.033 --> 00:24:59.914 - in Sicily, the landing in Sicily. The drama of the movie comes from a decision about the weather. A 00:24:59.914 --> 00:25:08.109 - storm threatens to wreck the D-Day plans. But a lesson Eisenhower learned from Sicily was that if there 00:25:08.109 --> 00:25:12.286 - is bad weather, the Germans have to fight in it too. 00:25:13.346 --> 00:25:20.780 - Because in Sicily, they came ashore in a gale in the midst of a thunderstorm. And yes, people did die. 00:25:20.780 --> 00:25:28.286 - Boats were capsized. But ultimately, Eisenhower concluded, it probably saved lives. The Germans, seeing 00:25:28.286 --> 00:25:35.719 - the storm coming in, realized the Americans probably weren't going to invade today. And so they pulled 00:25:35.719 --> 00:25:38.462 - back into the interior of the island. 00:25:39.266 --> 00:25:47.536 - the Americans and the British came ashore almost unopposed and faced a counterattack the next day, but 00:25:47.536 --> 00:25:55.806 - just from the Italians, which they were able to repel. Like southern France, Sicily, and this, so Gary 00:25:55.806 --> 00:26:04.317 - Kisters was part of that invasion force, he came ashore with them, and then he drove ahead of the troops, 00:26:04.317 --> 00:26:08.894 - you have to kind of picture this, into the highlands of, 00:26:09.090 --> 00:26:16.742 - of central Sicily. And that area is dotted by these communities called perched villages, where there's 00:26:16.742 --> 00:26:24.544 - a village that's atop a mountain. And these date from the Middle Ages. In fact, if you look at Wikipedia 00:26:24.544 --> 00:26:32.270 - for the Battle of Guyana, you don't see the battle that Gary Kistors fought in. You see a battle that's 00:26:32.270 --> 00:26:37.694 - from the 11th century. So it was a place where people had fought before. 00:26:37.794 --> 00:26:44.902 - These places are absolutely beautiful unless you have to capture one. There's usually a castle or a 00:26:44.902 --> 00:26:52.082 - monastery at the very summit of it, and this would be where the Germans would set up their artillery 00:26:52.082 --> 00:26:59.546 - positions. And so the recon troops had to kind of glide in there very quickly on their fast-moving jeeps 00:26:59.546 --> 00:27:07.294 - and somehow knock those out. That was the job that they were given. The Battle for Sicily is known for these 00:27:07.458 --> 00:27:16.142 - Hilltown battles, Troina, Vizzini, Corleone, Ciarami. They were fortified by Panzer Grenadiers and General 00:27:16.142 --> 00:27:24.258 - Kesselring's strategy was to inflict as many casualties as possible and to delay the Allied advance 00:27:24.258 --> 00:27:32.456 - to try to save, to create time for the Germans to turn the tide on the eastern front, which is where 00:27:32.456 --> 00:27:35.134 - the war was really being fought. 00:27:35.330 --> 00:27:42.556 - at that time. And so that's what Guyana was. That was the battle that Gary Kistors distinguished himself 00:27:42.556 --> 00:27:49.782 - in. The lesson Patton would draw from Sicily was to bypass these strong points. When he got into France, 00:27:49.782 --> 00:27:56.664 - what he did was he just drove around them and let the Air Force come in, my dad's group come in and 00:27:56.664 --> 00:28:02.238 - handle it afterwards. They would leave a few people behind to isolate that town. 00:28:02.754 --> 00:28:13.186 - and just pulverize it with air power. So I like to think that that was Gary Kister's real triumph, that 00:28:13.186 --> 00:28:23.318 - Gallardo survived. It is today a hugely beautiful tourist attraction. Google it. It looks absolutely 00:28:23.318 --> 00:28:32.446 - stunning. Every February there's a carnival with a mass parade. Every December they have a 00:28:32.674 --> 00:28:41.409 - Mustard Festival there. All that is possible because that town was not destroyed by the Air Force. Because 00:28:41.409 --> 00:28:49.736 - Kisters took out that German anti-tank gun, Guyana would not be like San Pietro. It would not be like 00:28:49.736 --> 00:28:57.982 - Monte Cassino. It would not be demolished. It would survive, and it was because of Gary Kisters. And 00:28:57.982 --> 00:29:01.982 - I think that is his real triumph, and that's why 00:29:16.770 --> 00:29:22.941 - But I didn't know what all Nick was going to say and include in his. And it's not really in my notes, 00:29:22.941 --> 00:29:29.172 - but I have to mention it as we go forward. So one of my favorite games to play is I go to museums, and 00:29:29.172 --> 00:29:35.282 - I find a way to tie something at the museum back to either IU or Bloomington or something like that. 00:29:35.282 --> 00:29:41.392 - My family hates this game, just for the record. But it's a fun game to play. And so he mentioned the 00:29:41.392 --> 00:29:45.022 - Thompson submachine gun. And a lot of folks don't know that 00:29:45.154 --> 00:29:51.375 - Brigadier General James Taliaferro Thompson, who invented the Thompson submachine gun, did his freshman 00:29:51.375 --> 00:29:57.536 - year here at IU. His dad was a faculty member here at IU, and he eventually got accepted to West Point 00:29:57.536 --> 00:30:03.817 - and went to that school and graduated. I'm sure they're a fine institution and all, but during his time, 00:30:03.817 --> 00:30:08.542 - you know, he maybe thought about that while he was a freshman here. We'll see. 00:30:08.706 --> 00:30:14.821 - So my role is to talk about the role of veterans, those citizen soldiers in the history of our community. 00:30:14.821 --> 00:30:21.052 - What is that role? What do they do here? And so obviously I'll start at the very beginning when Bloomington 00:30:21.052 --> 00:30:27.052 - was a frontier town. And sometimes it's kind of hard to think about what Monroe County and the frontier 00:30:27.052 --> 00:30:32.821 - would look like. But keeping in mind that Indiana was settled from south to north at the point that 00:30:32.821 --> 00:30:38.302 - Bloomington was platted and people began moving to the community, Unionville was the frontier. 00:30:38.690 --> 00:30:44.251 - So that whole corner of the county didn't even belong to us yet. That was still territory that belonged 00:30:44.251 --> 00:30:49.758 - to Native American tribes. And as we moved north, that became that area. So who moves to the frontier? 00:30:49.758 --> 00:30:55.319 - Well, there's a lot of veterans that are used to what we in the military world call austere conditions, 00:30:55.319 --> 00:31:00.666 - right? They're used to living in tents. They're used to building shelters. They're used to foraging 00:31:00.666 --> 00:31:02.430 - and finding things. So the Duns, 00:31:02.530 --> 00:31:08.533 - The Maxwells, the Alexanders, many of the founding names that you know from our community were those 00:31:08.533 --> 00:31:14.537 - folks that were moving to this area. They were veterans of the revolution. They were veterans of the 00:31:14.537 --> 00:31:20.659 - War of 1812. They were citizen soldiers. They had served in these militias. The Indiana Rangers, which 00:31:20.659 --> 00:31:26.781 - were the early military force and law enforcement agency here in the state of Indiana that later Texas 00:31:26.781 --> 00:31:31.774 - copied for a more famous and splashy version. They were parts of that organization. 00:31:32.322 --> 00:31:37.182 - in those early years. By the time the Mexican-American War comes in the 1840s, 00:31:37.250 --> 00:31:43.869 - We raised two companies of citizen soldiers out of Monroe County, two companies to go to the Mexican-American 00:31:43.869 --> 00:31:50.127 - War, headed by Captain John Sluice and Captain Daniel Lunderman. Again, these are prominent local names 00:31:50.127 --> 00:31:55.723 - that would be well known. From that war, we also get our first student veterans that return. 00:31:55.723 --> 00:32:01.740 - And in this case, I'm talking about George Buskirk, who returned after having served and became one 00:32:01.740 --> 00:32:07.216 - of our first veterans to graduate from IU, and then went on to become a lawyer and a judge 00:32:07.216 --> 00:32:14.361 - and a politician here in the local community. By the Civil War, our community is large enough that here 00:32:14.361 --> 00:32:21.713 - in Monroe County, we are able to raise parts of five companies during the Civil War. Those service members 00:32:21.713 --> 00:32:28.790 - were a wide range of folks, but my favorite one of note is David Campbell van Buskirk from the Gosport 00:32:28.790 --> 00:32:35.454 - area, otherwise known as Big Dave. And why was he known as Big Dave? Because he was six foot 10. 00:32:35.586 --> 00:32:42.939 - and over 300 pounds. He was specifically recruited for a unit of very tall individuals with the psychological 00:32:42.939 --> 00:32:49.758 - idea that if they sent them into combat against the Confederates, they would be intimidated surely by 00:32:49.758 --> 00:32:56.041 - their size. That did not entirely work out. Big Dave was captured, his unit was captured, and 00:32:56.041 --> 00:33:01.790 - the Confederates charged admission in the prison camp for locals to come see him. So. 00:33:02.594 --> 00:33:08.920 - He did eventually return to Bloomington and go on to be a farmer and a local businessman for the rest 00:33:08.920 --> 00:33:09.726 - of his life. 00:33:10.466 --> 00:33:16.057 - After the war, we saw an influx of additional settlers coming to our community, which included some 00:33:16.057 --> 00:33:21.815 - of our first African-American veterans that had served with the colored troops during the war and were 00:33:21.815 --> 00:33:27.741 - returning as a part of that. We also saw our first veterans organization, the Grand Army of the Republic, 00:33:27.741 --> 00:33:33.332 - which was the Union Veterans Organization, that became a political force within the community. Many 00:33:33.332 --> 00:33:39.090 - of our early veterans monuments were erected by them. They were very active in politics. You would not 00:33:39.090 --> 00:33:40.432 - be voted sheriff if you 00:33:40.432 --> 00:33:46.361 - did not have the Grand Army's approval here in the community. So they held a lot of sway and power. 00:33:46.361 --> 00:33:52.349 - The Spanish-American War, the Mexican border expedition, we sent units there as well. By the Mexican 00:33:52.349 --> 00:33:58.516 - border expedition, we had what is today known as the National Guard unit here in town, and we were able 00:33:58.516 --> 00:33:59.998 - to send folks with that. 00:34:01.346 --> 00:34:07.634 - So World War I, in most people's mind, is sort of an easier time to think about what our role was and 00:34:07.634 --> 00:34:13.921 - what we did. And some of that's because our VFW and our American Legion chapters are both named after 00:34:13.921 --> 00:34:16.510 - local men who were killed in World War I. 00:34:16.642 --> 00:34:22.051 - And so understanding that World War I commitment and that piece of it people often get, but there's 00:34:22.051 --> 00:34:27.514 - some stories that sometimes go untold through that. One of my favorites is a young woman named Letty 00:34:27.514 --> 00:34:33.139 - Wadsworth, and Letty Wadsworth was originally from Odin, Indiana, but she moved up here to the big city 00:34:33.139 --> 00:34:38.710 - of Bloomington as a teenager. And living here in Bloomington when the war first broke out, she decided 00:34:38.710 --> 00:34:44.606 - she wanted to serve in that war as a nurse, and she got trained as a nurse, but there was one small problem. 00:34:44.930 --> 00:34:50.297 - The Americans were not yet in the war. So she joined the British Army via Canada. And she went over 00:34:50.297 --> 00:34:55.664 - and served with the British Army and then came back and said, OK, one tour is enough. I'm good. I'm 00:34:55.664 --> 00:35:01.031 - going to go to school. She started taking classes at IU. And then the Americans joined the war. And 00:35:01.031 --> 00:35:06.505 - she watched the men in the classes around her start leaving to go off to war. She decided that wasn't 00:35:06.505 --> 00:35:12.087 - good enough. She needed to go again. So she joined the American Army this time and went over and served 00:35:12.087 --> 00:35:14.878 - a second tour as a nurse in Europe during that war. 00:35:15.106 --> 00:35:20.763 - When she came back to our community, at this point, the Spanish influenza, the 1917 influenza epidemic 00:35:20.763 --> 00:35:26.255 - is sweeping through the country. And it's a misnomer to think of it as only having happened in that 00:35:26.255 --> 00:35:31.747 - year, much like COVID and other pandemics. It had reoccurring years after that in 1919, 1920, 1921, 00:35:31.747 --> 00:35:37.349 - that it came through the community. And each time it came through the community and a hospital had to 00:35:37.349 --> 00:35:39.326 - be set up, she stopped her studies. 00:35:39.586 --> 00:35:44.965 - And she helped set up and run that hospital here in our community. She went back to nursing. In 1922, 00:35:44.965 --> 00:35:50.449 - she finally acquired enough credits to graduate from the university after all these interruptions. What 00:35:50.449 --> 00:35:55.828 - did she do? She became a community nurse here in southern Indiana. And she spent the rest of her life 00:35:55.828 --> 00:36:01.101 - serving as a community nurse in Monroe County, Owen County, Lawrence County, working with families, 00:36:01.101 --> 00:36:06.374 - working with communities during epidemics, working with maternity death rates, all of these sort of 00:36:06.374 --> 00:36:08.958 - challenges that they were trying to get through. 00:36:10.402 --> 00:36:17.034 - So, World War II comes along. Now, I'm guessing most people in this room know someone, either in your 00:36:17.034 --> 00:36:23.731 - family or in this community, maybe they've passed by now, who served in World War II. I see some heads 00:36:23.731 --> 00:36:30.038 - nodding. We can probably name somebody that served in World War II that we know. Korea, Vietnam, 00:36:30.038 --> 00:36:34.590 - the Cold War, we may know some folks that served in that war as well. 00:36:35.906 --> 00:36:43.273 - How many of y'all know someone who has served in Iraq or Afghanistan or someone, you don't catch it, 00:36:43.273 --> 00:36:50.713 - someone that has served in the Cold War even, right? So there's a few hands that go up, but if you're 00:36:50.713 --> 00:36:58.008 - thinking in your head, I know fewer of those people, there's a reason for that. So in World War II, 00:36:58.008 --> 00:37:04.062 - 11 to 12% of the US population served in the war, in the military during that war. 00:37:04.258 --> 00:37:10.795 - 11 to 12% of Bloomington at that point would have given about 18 to 20,000 people that lived in Bloomington 00:37:10.795 --> 00:37:16.848 - during World War II. So imagine out of a population of 18 to 20,000 people, 12% of them leave to go 00:37:16.848 --> 00:37:23.083 - serve in the war. And that's not including students that came in and then left to go serve in the war. 00:37:23.083 --> 00:37:28.894 - We also get an influx of people that moved to Bloomington. Bloomington's a boom town during the 00:37:29.314 --> 00:37:39.321 - Between 1940 and 1945, we increased 15% in size. By 1950, we had increased another 20%. So in a decade, 00:37:39.321 --> 00:37:49.617 - Bloomington grew by 35% during that time. So by 1950, we're at 35%. By 1970, the population of Bloomington 00:37:49.617 --> 00:37:55.390 - had doubled since 1940. And by 2000, it would double again. 00:37:58.114 --> 00:38:04.948 - Now you ask yourself, why is it that you might not know who the veterans are that have served in Iraq 00:38:04.948 --> 00:38:11.179 - or Afghanistan? About half a percent of Americans have served in the US military since 9-11. 00:38:11.179 --> 00:38:18.347 - Half a percent. So when you look at half a percent of what is arguably now somewhere between 80 to 120,000 00:38:18.347 --> 00:38:25.114 - people that live in Bloomington, depending on which census and whether you're looking at Bloomington 00:38:25.114 --> 00:38:28.062 - or Monroe County or all of that, versus 12% 00:38:28.578 --> 00:38:34.455 - when it was 20,000 people. That's a big difference. So, while in Gary Kister's time, folks would have 00:38:34.455 --> 00:38:40.448 - known. He would have, everybody knew who the veterans were. The veterans were a tight community. People 00:38:40.448 --> 00:38:46.268 - knew who they were. They were involved in these organizations. They were easy to identify. They very 00:38:46.268 --> 00:38:51.742 - often didn't have to tell people they were veterans, because everybody just sort of knew that. 00:38:51.938 --> 00:38:57.216 - Nowadays, with our current situation and what it is, there are many veterans who will identify as veterans. 00:38:57.216 --> 00:39:02.153 - They maybe wear a flag t-shirt. They have something every day that they do. But there's many of them 00:39:02.153 --> 00:39:07.138 - in that citizen soldier model that have gone on to do other things. And that is not a prominent piece 00:39:07.138 --> 00:39:12.172 - of their identity. And they just blend into our community. And given their small numbers, that is very 00:39:12.172 --> 00:39:16.766 - easy for them to do, particularly for women veterans who are often overlooked in those roles. 00:39:16.866 --> 00:39:23.236 - So it's important as we understand and we think back to the legacy of our veterans and I'm a child of 00:39:23.236 --> 00:39:29.482 - a veteran grandson of a veteran great grandson of a veteran. My family's been here since before the 00:39:29.482 --> 00:39:33.854 - revolution we've caught every war that has come along. Right. And so, 00:39:33.954 --> 00:39:39.359 - I understand that importance and that community tie in that piece of it. And at the same time, those 00:39:39.359 --> 00:39:44.710 - sort of families are harder and harder to find. Those sort of families are fewer and far between as 00:39:44.710 --> 00:39:48.670 - our military gets smaller, as we're not facing these large sizes of wars. 00:39:49.282 --> 00:39:54.437 - So it's important if we want to recognize and honor our current veterans that we also remember who the 00:39:54.437 --> 00:39:59.543 - veterans were that came before them. Because when they see communities that are honoring the veterans 00:39:59.543 --> 00:40:04.798 - that came before them, they feel that relationship, they feel that connection to what it is that they're 00:40:04.798 --> 00:40:06.750 - doing there in that moment. Thank you. 00:40:19.554 --> 00:40:27.694 - Good afternoon. I'm Justin Robertson, operations manager at the Monroe County History Center. But possibly 00:40:27.694 --> 00:40:36.062 - more topically for today, I am one of Gary Kister's nephews. And I'm very grateful to be here, and especially 00:40:36.062 --> 00:40:43.822 - grateful to everyone who showed up today. And it's great to see some familiar faces out here, some of 00:40:43.822 --> 00:40:48.158 - the kids that I was at Uncle Gary's daycare center with. 00:40:50.274 --> 00:40:58.247 - So we are here today to honor Gary Kister's service to his country. But I'd like to talk for a few minutes 00:40:58.247 --> 00:41:05.698 - about the man who came home from that service and what Gary Kister's was like as a person after the 00:41:05.698 --> 00:41:13.298 - war, as I know him. When you're eight years old, you don't really know what makes someone a hero. You 00:41:13.298 --> 00:41:17.694 - just know who your heroes are. And mine was my Uncle Gary. 00:41:18.914 --> 00:41:24.642 - My sister and I attended the daycare center that Uncle Gary and Aunt Noly ran. So we didn't just see 00:41:24.642 --> 00:41:30.484 - him at Thanksgiving and Christmas. He wasn't just some guy that showed up with a fruitcake every year. 00:41:30.484 --> 00:41:36.212 - He was part of our everyday lives. And my mother worked there, too. So we spent a great deal of time 00:41:36.212 --> 00:41:42.054 - with him. We also lived just a few blocks away from him, so he couldn't really get away from me. I was 00:41:42.054 --> 00:41:47.102 - always coming into his yard while he was gardening and stuff. But the funny thing is is, 00:41:47.330 --> 00:41:54.186 - I really didn't know that he was a war hero, at least not in the way that we are honoring him here today. 00:41:54.186 --> 00:42:00.784 - I knew he had served during World War II. I'd seen pictures of him in uniform. He looked very good in 00:42:00.784 --> 00:42:07.317 - uniform, like a movie star, which was frankly unfair to the rest of us men in the family. And I knew 00:42:07.317 --> 00:42:14.044 - there were stories about the war that the family would tell when he wasn't around. But Uncle Gary never 00:42:14.044 --> 00:42:17.278 - talked about the war to me or about being a hero. 00:42:17.954 --> 00:42:25.220 - It was almost as though he kept that part of his life separate from the people who hadn't been there 00:42:25.220 --> 00:42:32.487 - during those desperate times. So, the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, North Africa, 00:42:32.487 --> 00:42:39.394 - Italy, and all that was simply not the Gary Kisters that I knew. He was just my favorite uncle. 00:42:39.394 --> 00:42:44.286 - He was kind, gentle, generous, and fascinated by the natural world. 00:42:44.610 --> 00:42:51.852 - He seemed to have a remarkable gift for understanding the language of animals and children. And he was 00:42:51.852 --> 00:42:58.602 - a little eccentric in the best possible way. Uncle Gary was a collector who had his own cabinet 00:42:58.602 --> 00:43:06.125 - of curiosities. Rocks, minerals, fossils, gemstones, old newspapers, antique tools, and household objects. 00:43:06.125 --> 00:43:13.086 - I could go on, right? Anything that caught his attention or had a story to tell, he would collect. 00:43:14.178 --> 00:43:20.634 - President Franklin Roosevelt had given Lieutenant Gary Kistors the Medal of Honor, and General George 00:43:20.634 --> 00:43:27.279 - C. Marshall had given him the Distinguished Service Cross. But I really think his most prized possession 00:43:27.279 --> 00:43:33.798 - was his coveted piece of fossilized dinosaur excrement that he had scored in a roadside shop somewhere 00:43:33.798 --> 00:43:37.406 - in the Southwest while on one of his rock-hunting trips. 00:43:38.242 --> 00:43:45.832 - And I personally had to agree with him on this. To me, eight years old, this was the most important 00:43:45.832 --> 00:43:53.649 - material possession anyone could own. And that was what I requested to see whenever I visited him, not 00:43:53.649 --> 00:44:01.542 - his medals. I was significantly more impressed by the dinosaur poop. And in addition to this miraculous 00:44:01.542 --> 00:44:04.350 - fossil, Uncle Gary owned a fur shop. 00:44:04.706 --> 00:44:11.523 - to an eight-year-old, this was an excellent career choice. He had apparently decided he was going to 00:44:11.523 --> 00:44:18.273 - be a one-man natural history museum and not only a fur shop. There were furs everywhere in the shop 00:44:18.273 --> 00:44:25.157 - and workroom, many of them expertly tailored and stitched together by Uncle Gary himself. And he told 00:44:25.157 --> 00:44:32.177 - me about the animals they came from, where they lived, what they ate and how they behaved. And adjacent 00:44:32.177 --> 00:44:33.054 - to the shop, 00:44:33.282 --> 00:44:40.679 - was an enormous refrigerated room where the furs were stored. To an adult, this was simply climate control 00:44:40.679 --> 00:44:48.008 - storage. To us kids, it was an Arctic expedition. And we'd go hunting the yeti in it. We played in there. 00:44:48.008 --> 00:44:55.059 - And in retrospect, I realized that there are many reasons you should not allow small children to play 00:44:55.059 --> 00:45:02.526 - inside a refrigerator the size of a small apartment. I'm not quite sure that he knew that we were in there. 00:45:05.154 --> 00:45:11.876 - Uncle Gary's fascination with the natural world extended far beyond the first shop. He watched birds, 00:45:11.876 --> 00:45:18.531 - insects, and squirrels. He garden and planted flowers and trees. And at one point, my mother claims, 00:45:18.531 --> 00:45:25.187 - he built a rocking chair for the backyard squirrel. Yes, a rocking chair for the squirrel. I realize 00:45:25.187 --> 00:45:31.975 - that this sounds like something that I made up for the speech. But my mother swears that she and Uncle 00:45:31.975 --> 00:45:35.006 - Gary actually watched the squirrel sit in it. 00:45:35.810 --> 00:45:43.528 - And my Aunt Noly was considerably not amused, but the children of the daycare loved it. So how could 00:45:43.528 --> 00:45:51.170 - you not think of Uncle Gary as a hero? He was just great. He was also, in my opinion, the best gift 00:45:51.170 --> 00:45:59.271 - giver in the world, if a little eccentric in his choices. When my parents got married, Uncle Gary ignored 00:45:59.271 --> 00:46:04.926 - the wedding registry entirely. He didn't buy china. He didn't buy silver. 00:46:05.090 --> 00:46:13.430 - He certainly didn't buy one of those fondue pots everyone was crazy about in the 60s. Instead, he gave 00:46:13.430 --> 00:46:21.932 - them an original, unframed, yellowed, crumbled newspaper from 1793 announcing the beheading of the Queen 00:46:21.932 --> 00:46:30.110 - of France, Marie Antoinette. How romantic. It's exactly what a young couple needs starting out. But. 00:46:30.210 --> 00:46:36.383 - Every Christmas and for my birthday, he gave me little boxes of loose rocks, crystals, minerals, 00:46:36.383 --> 00:46:42.938 - and deodes, and I loved it. Pyrite or fool's gold was my favorite. If it was sparkly, I was at magpie, 00:46:42.938 --> 00:46:49.493 - and he knew that. And I still have a bunch of these boxes sitting around, and occasionally people come 00:46:49.493 --> 00:46:56.048 - across them, and they're just like, Justin, why do you have these boxes of rocks? Well, to me, they're 00:46:56.048 --> 00:46:59.230 - not just rocks. They're wonderful gifts from him. 00:46:59.682 --> 00:47:07.224 - And looking back, I realized that he was teaching me that the world was worth looking at closely, and 00:47:07.224 --> 00:47:14.915 - to appreciate rocks, and teaching me to appreciate lots of things that go unnoticed. And it was in this 00:47:14.915 --> 00:47:22.309 - spirit that we went to museums, nature centers, historic sites, pretty much anywhere that contained 00:47:22.309 --> 00:47:29.630 - an artifact, an animal, dead or alive, or a historic marker, which he now gets, which is fabulous. 00:47:30.018 --> 00:47:37.489 - But looking back, I blame him entirely for my career in museums. He spent years convincing me that history 00:47:37.489 --> 00:47:44.821 - and old things mattered, and I believed him. He taught me that history wasn't trapped in books or behind 00:47:44.821 --> 00:47:52.222 - glass. It was alive. It was happening right now. It was all around us. It was just waiting to be noticed. 00:47:54.082 --> 00:48:02.044 - Now I work at a history museum surrounded by old things, curious people, stories, objects, questions, 00:48:02.044 --> 00:48:10.085 - and taxidermy, thus fur. So apparently his brainwashing has been successful and I am a product of him. 00:48:10.085 --> 00:48:18.203 - He cared deeply about people, particularly children. For many years he supported a mission in Peru that 00:48:18.203 --> 00:48:23.902 - provided food, clothing, shoes, and school necessities to poor families. 00:48:24.098 --> 00:48:30.106 - He helped raise money for the mission because he couldn't bear the thought of children going hungry 00:48:30.106 --> 00:48:36.414 - or of being denied the chance to go to school. He had seen enough poverty in his lifetime, and he wanted 00:48:36.414 --> 00:48:42.422 - to do something about it. And he did. And that was my Uncle Gary. And that was also the life he and 00:48:42.422 --> 00:48:48.670 - my Aunt Noli built together. They had four amazing children, Richard, Ginger, Linda, and Judy. And they 00:48:48.670 --> 00:48:52.094 - built a life around family, work, children, and service. 00:48:52.802 --> 00:48:58.809 - Uncle Gary and Aunt Noly were partners in every sense of the word. They worked side by side for years, 00:48:58.809 --> 00:49:04.584 - both at home and in their businesses. In the morning, Uncle Gary helped with the daycare arrivals. 00:49:04.584 --> 00:49:10.474 - At noon, he helped Aunt Noly serve lunch and set up the cots for nap time. While the children slept, 00:49:10.474 --> 00:49:16.774 - Aunt Noly might help him in linings and fur coats or work on sewing and storage. And in the late afternoon, 00:49:16.774 --> 00:49:20.798 - Uncle Gary would often appear in the yard to play with the children. 00:49:20.898 --> 00:49:27.957 - and only got everything ready for them to go home. It was a busy life, but it was a life they built 00:49:27.957 --> 00:49:35.158 - together. And it was a life that was built around other people. I had grown up watching old Hollywood 00:49:35.158 --> 00:49:42.500 - movies, so I assumed war heroes were supposed to be tough and imposing. They barked orders, they stared 00:49:42.500 --> 00:49:49.630 - dramatically into the distance. Uncle Gary was not like that at all. He was calm, patient, generous. 00:49:50.978 --> 00:49:56.662 - And yet, this was the same man who had faced some of the most brutal circumstances imaginable 00:49:56.662 --> 00:50:02.891 - and demonstrated extraordinary courage in the middle of them. When I was in high school, Life magazine 00:50:02.891 --> 00:50:09.059 - published a photographic spread featuring living medal of honor recipients, and there was Uncle Gary. 00:50:09.059 --> 00:50:15.349 - I remember looking at that photograph and realizing I was looking at a person I thought I already knew. 00:50:15.349 --> 00:50:20.126 - The man that photographed was the same man who loved children, family, nature, 00:50:20.258 --> 00:50:28.367 - and fascinating things. But there in the pages of life was Gary Kisters, the war hero surrounded by 00:50:28.367 --> 00:50:36.557 - war heroes. It took me a moment to understand that these weren't two different people. They were the 00:50:36.557 --> 00:50:42.558 - same man. As a child, Uncle Gary was my hero. As a teenager, I discovered 00:50:42.690 --> 00:50:48.876 - But I wasn't the only one who thought he was a hero. He had been a hero to the nation for 30 years before 00:50:48.876 --> 00:50:54.946 - I was even born. And while I was initially a little resentful that the rest of the world seemed to have 00:50:54.946 --> 00:51:00.957 - discovered my uncle before I did, that feeling quickly gave way to immense pride. And the older I get, 00:51:00.957 --> 00:51:06.793 - the more remarkable his life after the war seems to me. Because he was a rather shy and humble man, 00:51:06.793 --> 00:51:11.870 - he wasn't particularly interested in being important. He was interested in doing good. 00:51:13.282 --> 00:51:20.065 - He cared deeply about his family and his faith. He cared about children. He cared about people he had 00:51:20.065 --> 00:51:26.714 - never met in Peru. He appreciated all the strange and wonderful things most people walk right past. 00:51:26.714 --> 00:51:33.630 - And he was interested in everything else except himself. Courage does not always look the way we expect 00:51:33.630 --> 00:51:40.346 - it to. Sergeant Kister showed extraordinary courage when the world demanded it of him. But the man I 00:51:40.346 --> 00:51:43.006 - knew showed me another kind of courage. 00:51:43.202 --> 00:51:50.033 - The courage to remain kind, generous, and engaged in the world. After seeing so much of what was terrible 00:51:50.033 --> 00:51:56.477 - in the world, he spent the rest of his life paying attention to what was wonderful about it. And he 00:51:56.477 --> 00:52:03.051 - continued to give of himself. And I think that that's a remarkable way to live. And maybe that's why, 00:52:03.051 --> 00:52:09.559 - all these years later, when I think of Gary Kisters, I don't think first about medals. I think about 00:52:09.559 --> 00:52:10.526 - dinosaur poop. 00:52:11.490 --> 00:52:18.830 - And how lucky he was to have had that. And I think about a man who came home from the brutality of war 00:52:18.830 --> 00:52:25.956 - and remained one of the most unique and kindest people I have ever known. That is Gary Kisters, the 00:52:25.956 --> 00:52:33.225 - man I knew. And that is the hero I wanted to share with all of you today. And now there are people in 00:52:33.225 --> 00:52:39.710 - the audience that are part of his family. Three of his children are here. Dick's not here. 00:52:39.906 --> 00:52:48.767 - Is he? OK. So we have Judy and Ginger right up here. And then Linda is in the back. And then we have 00:52:48.767 --> 00:52:57.540 - several of his grandchildren that I was in the daycare center with, although they were much smaller 00:52:57.540 --> 00:53:06.839 - than me. And they are all here. We have Lisa and Betsy and Karen and Deborah and Michael. Is there anyone 00:53:06.839 --> 00:53:09.822 - else that I can't see? I'm sorry? 00:53:10.178 --> 00:53:19.613 - And Lauren, OK. I'm sorry I can't see you back there, Lauren. So thank you very much. I appreciated 00:53:19.613 --> 00:53:29.331 - sharing Uncle Gary with you. As I said, he was one of my favorite people ever. So thank you for coming 00:53:29.331 --> 00:53:39.710 - out. Thanks to all three of you guys. And that's the formal part of the program today, except for the snacks. 00:53:39.938 --> 00:53:49.502 - But if any of you would like to share a memory of Gary Kister's, you're welcome to do it. We don't want 00:53:49.502 --> 00:53:59.434 - to go on and on. But if you do, please come up here. I'll just stand here. Justin reminded me of something. 00:53:59.434 --> 00:54:08.446 - I had the privilege of living next to his aunt and uncle at 609 North Dunn. And that was in 1979. 00:54:08.834 --> 00:54:17.882 - And I always noticed this gentle man that would have a little kid in his arm with his shirt off, being 00:54:17.882 --> 00:54:26.666 - just the coolest guy. He was always working in his garden. And the important story, as you told it, 00:54:26.666 --> 00:54:35.713 - Justin, was also about Noli, who was a partner of his. I'm glad you said something about the crystals, 00:54:35.713 --> 00:54:37.470 - because I have one. 00:54:37.762 --> 00:54:48.293 - In my previous life, I was on Bloomington City Council from 1980 to 87. And Jerry knocked on my door 00:54:48.293 --> 00:54:59.032 - one day and said, I guess you're the guy I need to talk to. So I said, sure. So he lived at the corner 00:54:59.032 --> 00:55:07.582 - of 10th and Dunn. And there was some problems with the drainage at 10th and Dunn. 00:55:08.226 --> 00:55:18.506 - capacity as his city councilman, I called up Public Works, John Freeman, and said, hey, do you have 00:55:18.506 --> 00:55:25.086 - to help me? We need to take care of this issue. And it was done 00:55:38.306 --> 00:55:49.163 - Yeah, I got to know him. I literally lived next door to him. And, you know, I saw the kids. And it was 00:55:49.163 --> 00:55:59.914 - just, you know, he was a gentle soul. And Noli was an incredible person. And they were just wonderful 00:55:59.914 --> 00:56:06.238 - human beings. So thank you for that interview. Anyone else? 00:56:09.666 --> 00:56:34.374 - Linda that's actually documented by one of the people in his battalion they recall Winston Churchill 00:56:34.374 --> 00:56:37.310 - came to the 00:56:49.602 --> 00:56:58.437 - and then zipped up and turned back around and said, hey, thanks. Wasn't he a painter? I think he was 00:56:58.437 --> 00:57:07.184 - painting then, when he asked Dad for a light. Because Dad was standing, I think Dad was supposed to 00:57:07.184 --> 00:57:15.844 - be protecting him or something, while he was painting. And he asked Dad for a light, and Dad said, 00:57:15.844 --> 00:57:19.518 - oh man, I don't smoke. Why don't I smoke? 00:57:20.930 --> 00:57:31.035 - Why don't I smoke? Okay. Well, thank you for coming today. This has been great. Thank you so much. We'll 00:57:31.035 --> 00:57:40.947 - be around if you want to chat with each other, with us, with Kister's family, get something to eat and 00:57:40.947 --> 00:57:45.470 - drink. And thank you so much for coming today.