Local Veterans Enjoy Weekly Fellowship

The group of veterans that meets every Thursday at Piggly Wiggly may change from week-to-week, but the fellowship they enjoy is consistent no matter who attends.

Servicemen represent each foreign conflict in America participated since World War II.

Store owner Ralph Malicki started offering his store as a meeting spot in August to the veterans with free coffee, pastries, and fruit trays because, he said, it's an honor to have them at his store.


"It's the least I can do for everything they've done for our country," he said.

Jay Wildfong, 87, of Mount Pleasant, is originally from Michigan, and he is a WWII Navy veteran. He said he chose the Navy because three of his brothers enlisted in the Army.

"I was the smart kid," he joked. "No crawling through the mud for me."

Wildfong was part of the armed guard who traveled on merchant vessels to combat German submarines that targeted those ships. He served for 29 months; from 1944 until the end of the war.

After he shipped home, Wildfong got his degree from Central Michigan College, graduated, and taught physical education and coached for 10 years. In 1964 he joined a lumber company and eventually found a position with Wolohan Lumber Company (now known as Bliffert's) until he retired until 1989.

Military service runs in the Wildfong family; one son served in the Army for 29 years and his grandson, Jason, also an Army man, was killed in the line of duty by friendly fire in Kuwait in 2001.

"He was in demolition," Wildfong said, nodding and his voice catching. "He made sure the going was safe for soldiers behind him. He died doing what he wanted to do."

He said he visits Piggly Wiggly every week because he enjoys talking with fellow veterans.

"It's nice to be together like this," Wildfong stated.
 
Ali Nelson, a 28-1/2-year veteran and retiree of the U.S. Navy, is the Racine County Veteran Service Coordinator, so he helps fellow veterans obtain benefits like heathcare, disability assistance, and surviving spouse benefit. He helped spread the word about the Thursday fellowship at The Pig. He said he enjoys bringing his fellow veterans together.

"I see them as proud and great because they help preserve the freedoms of this great nation," Nelson said.

Each group of veterans has its own identity, he explained. From WWII, we get the greatest generation because they were the largest volunteer force; those who served in Korea don't get a lot of recognition; Vietnam vets still suffer from how poorly they were treated; and troops who fought in the Gulf War, in many ways, are still fighting it.

"Bringing these guys together every week gives them a chance to talk about anything and everything," Nelson stated.