There wasn’t a dry eye in the room as World War II veteran Leon Silverman, age 99, belted out “God Bless America” to a group of more than 200 Thrivent clients and others in southern Illinois this past summer. Leon was the youngest of three veterans who spoke about their experiences during the war at lunch and dinner events sponsored by the Eckhardt Financial Group in Altamont, Illinois.
The veterans came in conjunction with the You Were Worth IT Foundation, an organization that honors veterans in a variety of ways, including taking them on memorable trips to battlefields where they served and sharing stories about their military service. Thrivent Wealth Advisor Ryan Eckhardt met the group’s founder, Dwight Hanson, in a hotel where there was a veterans’ conference. He was so moved by the foundation’s work that he wanted to share its story with Thrivent clients.
“Our clients were absolutely blown away,” Eckhardt says. “We had a presentation of flags by our local VFW, a local 20-piece pep band playing patriotic music and a storytelling session beyond belief of war accounts.”
For example, one of the veterans was in Iwo Jima during the war and had taken a Japanese flag after combat. Eighty years later, he returned to Iwo Jima on a trip with You Were Worth IT and gave the flag back to the general’s grandson.
The wife of one of the others shared how, from her village in the Philippines, she watched paratroopers take away her dad and uncle.
In the days after the presentations, Eckhardt’s team arranged for the veterans to see and hold their own official enlistment records, which are held nearby in St. Louis.
The events raised more than $9,000 for You Were Worth IT Foundation.
“In my 30 years with Thrivent, we’ve never done an activity with this much impact,” Eckhardt says. “We are so grateful to these veterans for sharing their lives with us.”
