Oglesby veterans honored with Quilts of Valor

Oglesby planned a fun evening Saturday, with barbecue, live music and a spotlight on two veterans.

Kicking off the festival, veterans Dominic Rivara and Leonard Wayne Lance were honored for their service and given quilts of valor. The quilts are hand-made and honor the bravery and sacrifices of veterans said Terry Johnson, of the Illinois Valley Quilts of Valor, who presented the quilts.

Rivara, who served as Oglesby’s mayor from 2019 to 2023, served in the U.S. Navy from July 5, 1960, to June 3, 1963. He served aboard the USS Wasp CVS-18 Cuban blockade, a Mediterranean Cruise and North Atlantic Deployment. He was honorably discharged as an SFP 3 in 1963.

Rivara said he was reminded of his time serving in Germany. He took a tour of Berlin at the time, when the wall partitioned the city between Democratic and Communist parts of the city. He said a woman approached he and other military members when he was in the Communist territory and she asked to have her grandson taken to the Democratic side. No matter how much he wanted to, that was not allowed and he saw two men in a trench coat usher her into a vehicle and take her away. He still remembers her and says a prayer for her.

“I’ve wondered whatever happened to her,” Rivara said.

Lance served in the U.S. Army from Sept. 29, 1965, to July 16, 1967. He served in the 11B 40 Light Weapons Infantry Company A 20th Infantry, 12th Field Artillery Regiment and Squad Leader in 4th Infantry Division. Lance was awarded the Vietnam Service Medal, National Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Sharpshooter Rifle M-14 and Combat Infantry Badge.

Lance said the Unit of 3,000 men trained together and were sent to Tay Ninh Vietnam. They broke up the unit to keep everyone in units going home together. He was sent to the 4th Infantry Division in South Vietnam to finish the tour. He was honorably discharged in 1967 as a sergeant.

Lance thanked the Illinois Valley Quilts of Valor group for the gift.

The veterans ceremony was conducted Saturday prior to the Boots, Brews and BBQ.

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Dominic Rivara is surrounded by family for a photo Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, after he received a Quilt of Valor at Senica Square in Oglesby. (Derek Barichello)