OTSEGO, Mich. — Sometimes it doesn’t take much to make a difference, but that's what Joyce and Darl Gilliand.
“He said that project has helped heal me, and I'm thinking, oh my gosh, I didn't realize I was doing that," said Joyce.
The high school sweethearts, who will be celebrating 57 years of marriage in August, got the idea to hang banners of their area’s service members while on a road trip down south.
“I had talked about doing this for four years," Joyce told me. "I just didn't know how to get started, but seeing these two little towns smaller than Otsego did it, I said, 'We can do this.'”
After a brief chat with City Hall and the VFW, the couple got to work.
“We were hoping to get 20 [or] 25 banners the first year, maybe to get it started, and we ended up with 73, so we were just elated.”
As a Navy Vet himself – his picture proudly hangs next to his younger Army Vet brother - Darl knows how much it helps to not forget the men and women who serve.
“A lot of them in different conflicts got no thanks when they came home whatsoever, and anything that we can do to thank veterans and appreciate their service is a worthwhile venture," Darl said.
These pictures, reminding everyone of the faces behind our freedom.
Including Darl. With the picture hanging above downtown being the same one Darl sent Joyce all those years ago.
“ I was in college at the time, and it [photo of Darl now hanging on banner] got sent to me up at Ferris, and I.. oh my gosh, so there was just a stream of girls coming in to see that wonderful picture, and it was like, oh wow. So it was really something," said Joyce.
Their work doesn’t end here. For years, Joyce has constructed another honor display at the couple's church in Otsego. It's been growing as they celebrate our fighting men and women.
Some still here, some gone, but everyone not forgotten.
“I am so happy that you recognize the veterans, because when he came home, he didn't get any thank yous, you know, people were spit on, things got thrown at him, they were called baby killers, and they had no choice where they were shipped to, they went where the government told them," Joyce said. "So it was a hard time for all of the men and women, so this is just I'm hoping it's a comfort to them, and let them know that the city of Otsego, at least, thanks them for their service.”
If you have a veteran in your life you would like to see honored on a banner next year, contact VFW 3030 in Otsego.
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