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Support rally for overseas troops slated for Walworth County Fair

ELKHORN — Robert Webster volunteered to organize the first 10 Support Our Troops rallies.

He’s now approaching 300.

“I thought up the rally,” Webster, a retired Realtor, said. “As an older veteran myself, I look back and recognize that Vietnam veterans did not receive the kind of support they needed or got a proper welcome home.

“I wasn’t going to let that happen again. We had to do something.”

Webster, 82, Fontana, has been a legion member for 60 years and served in the U.S. Army occupation force of Japan after World War II.

The weekly rallies at the old courthouse draw about 25 spectators, mostly legion members and families of military personnel who are deployed overseas.

The rally, which has been held every Monday morning since Nov. 29, 2004, will move on Labor Day from the government center square in downtown Elkhorn to the Walworth County Fair stage in the park.

As part of the 11 a.m. rally, the 88,000 POW/MIAs unaccounted for from previous wars will be recognized.

Peter Kahl, commander of the Walworth County Council of the American Legion, said the rallies recognize troops with ties to Walworth County who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan or who had served there and returned. The families of service personnel are also recognized. He is from Fontana.

The fair has hosted previous Labor Day rallies.

“We have at least a couple of hundred spectators at the fair,” he said. “That size of the crowd makes it special.”

A number of ranking officers of the Wisconsin Department of the American Legion will attend the Monday rally, including State Commander Robert Batty, State Vice Commander Calvin Johnson, First District Commander Ron Hessil and Adjutant of the First District Jim Schmidt.

Through its Support Our Troops Committee, the legion has sent troops 1,280 packages with an estimated value of more than $38,000, 435 international phone cards with a value of $5,433, 189 small American flags and approximately 8,000 greeting and thank you cards.