Alex Prunty wins one for mom

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: May 22, 2018

2018 ALAN KULWICKI MEMORIAL

Alex Prunty wins one for mom

Prunty wins Kulwicki Memorial super late model feature after mother released from hospital

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043

SLINGER — Alex Prunty’s mother, Janine, is out of the hospital, after a 10-day stay following a brain aneurysm. However, a lot of unknowns linger, especially with brain surgery scheduled.

But for one night, there were plenty of smiles and tears for the Prunty family.

Alex Prunty won one of the biggest and most emotional races of his career, winning Sunday’s 60-lap super late model feature during the 25th anniversary of the Alan Kulwicki Memorial.

“The whole night I was thinking, ‘It’s got to happen. We’ve got to get this one,’” Alex said.

He won the Kulwicki Driver Development Program’s national championship in 2016, and is forever tied with Kulwicki, the Greenfield native who won the then-NASCAR Winston Cup championship in 1992. He died five months later in an airplane crash.

While grateful for the opportunities given to him through the KDDP and winning one of Slinger’s most coveted races, this one was all about mom.

“Alan was a huge role model and a huge part of getting me into super late model racing, but everybody loves their mom to death,” Alex said.

On Sunday, Janine was at the races for the first time since being released from the hospital. She missed the opener April 29 and the following race. Those were the first two races Janine had missed in Alex’s career, which started about 10 years ago.

“With the near-death experience she had, it means a lot being the first race she’s been able to make,” Alex said. “To have her back here tonight and win the Alan Kulwicki Memorial, I don’t think you can really put an emotional stamp on which one is bigger.”

The first Alan Kulwicki Memorial at Slinger was in 1993, 13 months after Kulwicki’s passing. It was won by Matt Kenseth. It’s been held annually every year since then, minus three rain outs (2007, 2011 and 2012).

Kulwicki was wellknown within the racing circles for his determination to succeed. Alex needed a similar attitude to pick up Sunday’s checkered flag.

Alex fought off four challenges from his uncle, Dennis Prunty, to win Sunday. Dennis finished second to follow up back-toback victories at Slinger.

“It’s really awesome that she was here to see that,” Dennis said of his sister-inlaw.

Dennis stuck the nose of his car on the inside of Alex on laps 39, 44, 49 and 53, but couldn’t finish the pass.

“It’s a big win and a proud moment for the entire team,” Alex said.

Steve Apel finished third, Gary LaMonte was fourth and Brad Mueller rounded out the top five.

Slinger’s Jack Stern won the 40-lap limited late model feature, his first feature victory at Slinger since Sept. 7, 2014, in the midwest sportsman division.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Stern said in victory lane.

The Kulwicki Driver Development Program, which started in 2015, aims to assist up-and-comers develop as drivers and as positive role models off the track through scholarship funding. Seven people are chosen from a pool of applicants to serve as finalists for the Kulwicki Cup. The program’s annual winner is determined through ontrack performance and offtrack performance, such as peer mentoring. The winner gets more than $54,000, a trophy and the designation of national champion.

“I was born the year he died,” Alex said, referring to Kulwicki. “I grew up helping my uncle David and Alan was his role model. I got to really know who (Kulwicki) was because Dave was an engineer and I got into engineering as well. They said Alan was an incredible person. Wish I could’ve met him, but I know he’s looking down smiling and so is the entire Kulwicki program.”

Alex celebrated Sunday’s victory appropriately with a Polish victory lap — driving the wrong way for one lap.

“I’ve seen a lot of really cool videos of Alan when he did that first victory lap,” he said. “And it means the world to me to be able to do this tonight because ... down the backstretch, I was having flashbacks of the Kulwicki banquet and all the people I met through that. It meant a lot to me.

“It was at a time in my life where I thought maybe I kind of reached the end, limited lates was all I could afford and Alan’s legacy and everyone with the program pushed me to get to this level. We’ve been accomplishing things that I never thought was possible.”

A week after Mother’s Day, this one was also for mom.

“I think she started crying before she even got to me,” Alex said. “The first thing she said was ‘I love you so much.’” Janine still has an openbrain surgery planned.

“Brain surgeries are always a really scary thing,” Alex said. “We’ve been praying everyday that she makes it through that all the doctors can make it a successful surgery.”

He added, “It’s a really great night for the family. We’re just really happy to have mom here.”

25th ALAN KULWICKI MEMORIAL Feature winners Super late model: Alex Prunty

Limited late model: Jack Stern

Super Beez: Tom Berens Slinger Bees: Marty Tackes Figure 8: Ryan Lovald Fast qualifiers Super late model: Gary LaMonte (11.243 seconds)

Limited late model: Kyle Chwala (12.161)

Super Beez: Tom Berens (13.867)

Slinger Bees: Garrett Konrath (15.216)

A much more welcome return this time around

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: April 17, 2018

A much more welcome return this time around

One vet had a much different airport experience 50 years ago

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043

MILWAUKEE — It was worth it for West Bend’s Jerry Goratowski.

A crowd of thousands packed the terminal inside General Mitchell International Airport, despite the rain and snow mix that was blanketing the city outside the airport, to thank more than 100 veterans returning from their day of honor Saturday in Washington for the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight.

The size of the crowd was moving, emotional and left some in tears. Goratowski was no exception.

“It’s off the chart,” said Goratowski, a Vietnam War veteran, shouting over a loud contingent of grateful people, clapping and cheering for veterans walking through the welcoming line and marching band music playing.

“My heart is beating,” he said. “When I got off the plane, I was cool and calm, but when I hit (the welcome line), my heart was racing.”

“That was something,” said West Bend’s John Pedersen, a fellow Vietnam veteran and one of 10 Washington County veterans on the Honor Flight.

“It’s really overwhelming,” Goratowski said.

About 50 years ago, Goratowski returned home after a year in Vietnam. When he got home, something came up for his arranged ride and there was no one available to pick him up.

So, he used $30 to take a yellow taxi cab from General Mitchell Airport back home to Hartford — about 45 miles.

On Saturday, Goratowski came home to a welcome home party like no other. He heard the stories from others who experienced it before him. But it was unlike anything he dreamed of after experiencing it for himself.

When veterans step off the plane, bagpipes blare and two lines of local servicemen and servicewomen

line the concourse, saluting the vets as they walk or are wheeled past. Then, once past the TSA security checkpoint, thousands and thousands of people, most of whom are holding American flags or signs saying “Welcome Home” or “Thank you for your service” give them the ovation so many didn’t get 45 or more years earlier.

The lines of people behind two roped-off areas are several people deep, all extending a hand for the veterans to shake.

“You’ve got to be there,” Goratowski said. “I don’t care what anyone tells you, you’ve got to be there, you’ve got to be in that moment.

“It’s a day I’m never going to forget, I’ll tell you that.”

Goratowski served in the Navy from 1968-1974 and was in Vietnam for one year. He was born in Milwaukee and moved to Hartford when he was 10 or 11 years old. He graduated from Hartford Union High School in 1968. Within four months, he was in Vietnam, serving on the USS Leary. Goratowski was a boiler operator in one of the ship’s two boiler rooms.

“It was about eight to 10 people in each boiler room and 12-hour days,” Goratowski said, adding if boiler pressure got too high, the ship would explode.

“It’s hot down there,” Goratowski said, adding temperatures exceeded 100 degrees, was surrounded by asbestos and was 5 miles from the gun line. “It was so bad I got heat rashes.”

But after Saturday’s welcome home party, Goratowski said, “I’d do it again.”

❑❑❑

Approaching a milestone

Saturday’s flight was the first of 2018 for the Stars and Stripes program and 44th overall. It kicked off what Board President and Allenton resident Paula Nelson said hopes to be a record-breaking year in what is a milestone year for the nonprofit organization.

The organization’s first flight was in November

2008, marking 2018 as the 10th anniversary season for Stars and Stripes Honor Flight.

The program is part of the National Honor Flight Network, which started in December 2004 in Ohio. There are 132 national hubs in 46 states. In Wisconsin, there are six hubs — Badger Honor Flight (Madison), Freedom Honor Flight (La Crosse), Old Glory Honor Flight (Green Bay), Honor Flight Northland (Superior) and Never Forgotten Honor Flight (Wausau).

There were 70 veterans on Stars and Stripes’ first honor flight. On Saturday, there were 153. Since the maiden flight, Stars and Stripes has flown more than 5,500 veterans to the nation’s capital. Nationally, more than 200,000 veterans have taken an honor flight.

Nelson and her fellow board members also hope to squeeze in the organization’s 50th flight this season. If not this year, it’ll be in 2019.

County veterans take part in the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: April 17, 2018

County veterans take part in the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043

WASHINGTON — Standing near the Vietnam War Memorial on a cloudless 80-degree day in the nation’s capital, Joshua Maas got a greater admiration for his grandfather, Vietnam War Army veteran John Pedersen of West Bend.

Pedersen found the name of a man he went to high school with engraved on the wall. When asked what it was like to see the name, Pedersen said, “I prefer not to see it on there at all.”

Having Maas there, though, made it easier for Pedersen to get through the sad emotions of seeing someone he knew immortalized in stone, along with more than 58,000 other names.

“It was moving to me,” Pedersen said. “I hope Josh was able to comprehend what the Vietnam guys were going through. It’s been made faded with time, but when you get something up-close and personal like that, it reawakens memories.”

Then, a story was shared by Pedersen to Maas about his time in Vietnam.

Pedersen was attacked by an enemy holding a gun and pulled the trigger. But the gun misfired, which allowed Pedersen to defend himself, get off four shots with his own gun and killed the attacker.

“It kind of made me realize ... he said that he kind of had survivor’s remorse about that,” Maas said. “I wasn’t thinking about that. I thought, ‘I’m here because that didn’t happen.’” Here’s what happened.

“We were going through a part of Saigon, we were going house to house and he jumped out of a doorway and pulled a gun on me,” Pedersen said. “It was a World War II or earlier mauser, a German mauser, but it was pitted and ugly, but the insides were clean. He forgot to clean out the bolt, the different mechanisms, so the hammer hit, but didn’t hit hard enough.

“His misfired and mine didn’t.”

Maas, who graduated from Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School in 2016, was Pedersen’s guardian for Saturday’s Stars and Stripes Honor Flight. Pedersen was one of 10 veterans from Washington County who participated in the day’s activities. Joining Pedersen were Wayne Fischer (Vietnam War, Army, Colgate), Greg Eggum (Vietnam, Army, Germantown), Brad Wing (Vietnam, Navy, Hartford), Dave Lowe (World War II, Army Air Corps, Hartford), Thomas Kohn (Vietnam, Marines, Kewaskum), Jerry Goratowski (Vietnam, Navy, West Bend), James Meinberg (Vietnam, Air Force, West Bend), James Pogantsch (Vietnam, Army, West Bend) and Billy Crowley III (Vietnam, Army, West Bend).

“It’s awesome,” Meinberg said. “I’ve been here before, but I would see this over and over again. It’s the history of our country. It means a lot.”

For Crowley, the trip was more favorable than his first visit in 2015 with a friend.

“It was raining,” Crowley said with a smile. “The weather was a lot more pleasant this time.”

When he and his friend toured the Vietnam memorial three years ago, Crowley said it was eerie.

“I didn’t have a name to look for, but my buddy did,” Crowley said.

When they found it, Crowley said, “He was emotional.” He got chills seeing it himself.

On Saturday, it was much different. He said he got to enjoy the trip and get some closure, too.

The first time Eggum visited the Vietnam War Memorial, it was in the early 1990s, it was 2 a.m. and he was alone. He had some reflection there — alone for nearly three hours — and got his closure at that moment.

On Saturday, at the Vietnam memorial with his daughter, Hartford’s Jennifer Gilmore, Eggum remembered the smells that greeted him in Vietnam.

“It was so unbearably hot and the smells of rotting ... whatever, I don’t know what it was, I’ll never forget it,” Eggum said. “I walk down this ramp and my uniform was drenched in sweat in right away.”

The collection of veterans and their guardians landed at Dulles International Airport shortly before 10 a.m. eastern time and boarded five coach buses — red, white, blue, green and gold. From there, buses went separate ways to avoid congestion at the different memorials on the itinerary — the Korean

War, the Vietnam War and World War II memorials. Stops also included the Arlington National Cemetery and the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial.

Pedersen and Maas were on the red bus, which stopped at the Korean and Vietnam memorials first. Both memorials are next to the reflecting pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. The stroll through the Korean memorial was short. When they got to the Vietnam memorial, Pedersen had to pause.

“This will be tough,” Pedersen said, adding, “That wall makes it very personal. Behind each name is a family, a life lost.”

Before arriving at the war memorials, Paula Nelson, the Stars and Stripes’ Board of Directors president, read information about the wall and the names on it. Some of the data she shared included 997 people were killed on their first day in Vietnam and more than 1,000 died on their last day. And, about 50 percent of the people on the wall were 22 and younger, including as young as 19 — right about Maas’ age.

“It helps you put it in perspective,” Maas said.

Wauwatosa’s Jerome Neary, who lived in Allenton from 19962017 and served in Vietnam with the Army, found a classmate on the wall as well — Private 1st Class David Siemanowski of Milwaukee, Panel 6E, Line 52.

“I looked him up and said a prayer,” Neary said.

Pedersen wished the tour could’ve seen the White House. But, that was OK.

“The day as a whole was very successful,” Pedersen said. “For me ... I’m very proud to be an American.”

It was successful because Pedersen shared the day with his grandson. Maas wasn’t originally supposed to go, but his mother had eye surgery and wasn’t cleared to go, so he filled in for her and did so admirably.

The day in the nation’s capital ended at about 6 p.m. eastern time where another procession line awaited veterans at the airport to send them home to Milwaukee.

“I just wish we had time to do more sight-seeing, but what we did was special,” Pedersen said.

Local reaction mixed to Ryan not seeking re-election

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: April 12, 2018

Local reaction mixed to Ryan not seeking re-election

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043

Reaction was mixed after Wednesday morning’s announcement that Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan will not run for re-election in November, ending a 20-year political career in Washington.

But, there was a common thread between Republicans and Democrats after the announcement: intrigue.

“It’ll be interesting,” said Dennis Degenhardt, vicechairman of the Democratic Party of Washington County. “It’s a big day in Wisconsin politics. We never had a Speaker of the House before. The next few weeks or few months will be interesting and what it’ll mean for the state and the political picture.”

Jim Geldreich, chairman of the Washington County Republican Party since 2005, said, “(It) depends on who runs for his congressional seat.”

Geldreich said he was surprised at the news. “I watched the press conference,” he said. “It sounds like, being a congressman and Speaker of the House, it’s such a major commitment; he needs more time with his family.

“He’s been a great leader, a bright young conservative mind. He really did a great job with the budgets over the years. It’s a big loss for Wisconsin and the country.”

Ryan’s seat for Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District was up for re-election in November. Earlier this year, Ryan, 48, denied rumors about resigning.

After the spring election last week, Gov. Scott Walker tweeted about a “blue wave” after Rebecca Dallet won the election for a State Supreme Court

seat over Michael Screnock.

Degenhardt, who as a Democrat won the traditionally conservative city of West Bend during the special election for the 58th Assembly District in January, believes that may have played a role in Ryan’s decision.

“I don’t know if he thought he couldn’t win or the battle it would take (to win) would be very, very tough,” Degenhardt said. “I’m not sure. ... As a Democrat, I hope we can balance some things out.”

Shortly after Ryan’s announcement, support poured in for the Janesville native.

“Wisconsin has a long history of producing great leaders, and Paul Ryan is one of its greatest,” said State Sen. Alberta Darling, who represents Wisconsin’s 8th District, which includes Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties, in a statement. “Paul always answered the call when his leadership was needed, yet never lost track of his roots. He worked tirelessly to represent his district and Wisconsin. Despite all of his accomplishments in Washington, there is no more important task than to be a husband and a father. I know he looks forward to spending more time with his family and wish him well in retirement.”

On the other side, IBEW Local 494 Business Manager Dean A. Warsh issued a statement, “This is increasingly one of the most important races in the nation. Speaker Ryan realizes working families are sick and tired of his leadership, because he has consistently attacked the working class and used his powerful position to advocate for big-money donors, not his middle-class constituents.”

Ryan was elected the 54th Speaker of the House

in 2015, replacing John Boehner, who retired.

“He was a huge improvement over John Boehner,” Geldreich said. “He’s still someone relatively young and to be that powerful for him to leave is difficult to replace.”

Geldreich met Ryan and each time they met after that, Geldreich thought it was neat that Ryan remembered his name and represented the Republican Party in Washington County.

“His personality is very energetic,” Geldreich said. “The events that I’ve been at and he’s there, he enters the room and it lights up with his presence.”

Degenhardt did commend Ryan for making a difficult decision.

“I really appreciate that family was that important to make that kind of decision,” he said.