St. Ignatius honors its own with Blue Star ceremony

ST. IGNATIUS — Dozens of folks gathered at the St. Ignatius Christian and Missionary Alliance Church Saturday night to show their respect for the family members of locals serving in the military.

"It's really amazing for a town this size," said Tim Orr, who helped build the freedom board that was displayed at the ceremony. "We're up to 37 people on our board in a town of 900, and we're finding more all the time."

The freedom board includes a picture and short biography of where the soldiers went to school, trained, and where they are deployed.

Orr and his wife Peggy assembled the board after seeing a similar one in another community and thought St. Ignatius families needed recognition.

"Pretty soon we're going to need to expand the board because there are so many items on it, including poems from soldiers and miniature flags from the areas the soldiers represent," said Orr.

In addition to the freedom board, the focus of the night was on the Blue Star banners that were presented to family members of soldiers by Rick Marquart of the Marine Corps League. The banners were created in 1917 for those who have children in the military. The banner is to symbolize the hope and pride those families have for everyone who is serving, said Marquart.

"We've had a lot of people asking what the Blue Star is," said Paulette Marquart, who helped organize the event, on Monday. "So we've had a very positive reaction."

There was lots of pageantry and flags involved as the ceremony including the Mission Valley Honor Guards, the national anthem, the pledge of allegiance, and even a bagpiper, James Pettit. Amidst military recruitment posters draped on the church walls, Pettit played "Terra Time" and "Lochber No More."

One family, the Leishmans, received three different banners for their sons in the military. Two have been overseas and one is currently in Iraq, said Aaron Leishman, the father.

"We've actually had five children in the military, but we have three now," said Leishman of Kevin and Chad, in the Marines, and Damon of the U.S. Army-Green Berets. "We have our banners hanging in the window."

While life in the military can be a solitary pursuit, that is especially true for snipers. Craig Hoppe's son Nathan has that task as he frequently ventures into the mountain passes in eastern Iraq trying to prevent infiltration from foreign terrorists.

"Snipers are kept separate from regular soldiers because of their missions," said Hoppe. "But I'm able to correspond with Nate a few times a week by computer, which is better than waiting a month to hear back from a letter."

Nathan Hoppe has another six months on his tour of duty. He works for Delta airlines in Missoula in his civilian life.

Nobody could pinpoint exactly why such a large percentage of residents in St. Ignatius serve in the military, but Tim Orr did want to delineate what they meant to the town.

"This is an outstanding group of men and women in the community," said Orr. "A lot of them are college-educated, and a lot make sacrifices in business to serve."

The ceremony included a video message from Sen. Conrad Burns, who wanted the families to know the recent elections in Iraq are indicative of the effort put in by a vast array of servicemen and women.

The church was only too happy to provide a location for the Blue Star tribute.

"When I first moved here in 2003, we immediately started building this wing of the church for community purposes," said Pastor Gordon Crossley. "This was the first big event where we had an opportunity to use it, and I hope we get to host it next year as well. These people are always giving and they never get any recognition."

Those honored were: Kevin, Chad, and Damon Leishman, Wesley Christianson and Scott Sterling, Chris and Matt Nutt, Charles Arlint, Daniel Blood, Sean Brannan, Jeff Couch, Daniel Decker, Amanda Dillard, Joshua Glover, Nicoma Guinan, Nathan Hoppe, Donavan Jenkins, Arnie McDonald, Adam McElderry, Justin Newton, Sean Oliver, Daniel Orr, Bill Paul, Jessie Powell, Glen Reisland, Geof Rohrlach, Chance Venne, and Ryan Shock.