|
Dutch teenager honored by local veterans
By David Stephens
Hometown News
Sebastiaan Vonk (center), flanked by Harold and Faye McManus, was honored at an American Legion luncheon on August 7, 2010.
Sebastiaan Vonk is a 17 year old from the Handinxvelo-Giessendam region of the Netherlands. Since the age of 13 Vonk has belonged to the Adopt A Grave organization in his homeland. Several times a year he travels to various military cemeteries sometimes for long distances, to care for and show respect to three graves of American soldiers killed and buried in his homeland during WWII. One of those graves is that of Private Charles Brinkley, the father of Boiling Springs resident Faye McManus, and recently during a visit to the United States he was a guest in the home of Faye and her husband, Harold McManus.
On a previous trip to the States Vonk had been honored by the 81st Armored Regiment at Fort Knox, KY, and made an honorary Kentucky Colonel for the respect he shows to those buried in the Netherlands. So it was only fitting that during his Boiling Springs visit, a luncheon sponsored by Boiling Springs American Legion Post 200 was held to honor Sebastiaan Vonk. On August 7, 2010, members of the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, the Blue Star Mothers, state and county representatives, the MilitaryOrder of the Purple Heart, and members of the Boiling Springs community gathered at the Grapevine Restaurant for the event.
For the rest of the story, see this week’s Boiling Springs Sentry.
 Email This Post
|
