Batavia council to honor returning GIs on Monday
By Linda Girardi For The Beacon-News February 3, 2012 1:58PM
The Batavia City Council will welcome home two of Batavia’s heroes at Monday’s City Council. Army medic Steve Shewalter Jr. has returned from deployment in Iraq, and Army Sgt. David Thompson has returned from deployment in Afghanistan.
Updated: March 6, 2012 8:14AM
BATAVIA — Two hometown soldiers — Army medic Steve Shewalter Jr. and Army Sgt. David Thompson — will be honored by the Batavia City Council on Monday.
Shewalter, 25, returned in early December after almost a year in Iraq. Before President Obama ordered troops home by Dec. 31, he anticipated being in Iraq another two months.
“Returning home was surreal,” Shewalter said.
Shewalter served in the 801st Combat Support Hospital, treating wounded U.S. soldiers suffering from injuries suffered from roadside bombs and indirect fire.
“We saw patients every day,” he said.
“Fortunately, the injuries were minimized due to the advances in protective equipment, both vehicles and body armor,” Shewalter said. “The types of injuries that did come through would have been far more catastrophic without them.”
Thompson, 31, served almost a year in Afghanistan with the 1st Infantry Division out of Fort Knox, Ky. He worked in security and enlisted in the Army in 2009.
Thompson’s father, Juul Thompson, served in Vietnam.
Shewalter’s father, Steven Shewalter Sr., also served in Vietnam.
Shewalter enlisted in 2005 and is studying to become a RN at Rock Valley College in Rockford. He became engaged last summer on leave and plans to marry in June.
Aldermen will honor the soldiers during the City Council meeting at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Batavia Government Center, 100 N. Island Ave.
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