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.