GERMANTOWN, Wis. — Kenneth Miller served stateside during the Cold War and is a Germantown native.
The 91-year-old spoke about the importance of Veterans Day in today's day and age in his community and beyond.
Watch: Germantown veterans urge community to connect with local heroes on Veterans Day
"Get your nose out of the phone," he said. "I wish the young people would look at history."
Ken was a member of the Wisconsin National Guard during the Cold War and completed 41 years of service. Additionally, he's battled cancer for 21 years.
He worked on war missiles in Wisconsin and was called to duty during the Cuban Missile Crisis, but said they never had to launch them during that time, despite the fact that he was called in to put his finger on the trigger from one of their stations in Milwaukee.
"That meant if we encountered an enemy or an aircraft over Green Bay," he said. "We could shoot them down."
Marge said more people should talk about people like her husband, who never fought overseas but sacrificed his time here in Wisconsin during the Cold War.
"I feel the era is forgotten," she said. "I think it's the history we were talking about. The feelings of the way it affected you on a day-to-day basis versus reading a sentence in a book that says whatever, you have no way of knowing what the reality was on a day-to-day basis. You just can't! Until you talk to someone who lived it."
She and Ken said younger generations can honor them by simply sitting down, asking questions and listening.
"Just because it was during a time more of peace than it was of war, that doesn't make it any less significant," Kristi Bonnell said. "It becomes forgotten because a lot of people sometimes don't talk about their history, or they feel like people don't want to know about their history. Just to be able to ask somebody what you went through and to be able to learn from them."
Bonnell fought in Iraq and Afghanistan and now runs the Germantown American Legion.
She hopes this Veterans Day serves as a reminder for folks to appreciate people like Marge and Ken while they still can.
"We're all connected," she said. "It's just so moving to honor all of the veterans on Sunday."
Germantown held its Veterans Day ceremony at Fireman's Park on Sunday. Bonnell worked with the community to raise money and add a sidewalk and new veteran/memorial walls to honor those who've fought to protect the United States.
Marge and Ken will be honored as the grand marshals of the Germantown Christmas Parade for their lifelong achievements and contributions to the community on November 15th.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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