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‘We need to join together’ · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  We need to join together. Written by Tom Collins. This article is
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  being read by an automated voice brought to you by Everlet. America
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  was at war when he enlisted Vietnam and at war again Iraq
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  when he got his discharge. Ironically, though, it was a stateside assignment
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  that brought Andy Ruggerio closest to death.
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  Ruggerio, 74, of Ladd was stationed in Damascus, Arkansas, and witnessed the
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  Titan missile explosion in 1980. An undetected fuel leak eventually set off
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  an explosion that killed Airman David Livingston and injured 21 others, one
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  of whom later succumbed to his injuries. Ruggerio knew both the casualties.
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  It’s one of the reasons Ruggerio is a stalwart at veterans funerals
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  and memorial celebrations. While he completed his 20 years service to the
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  U.S. Air Force alive and intact, he considers it a privilege to
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  stand up for the deceased and remember the fallen.
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  And as the Illinois Valley veterans community grows older, he’s pleading with
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  younger veterans to step up and participate in regional memorial groups.
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  We need to join together, Ruggerio said. We all need help.
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  Help they do need, but one local funeral director said local veterans
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  aren’t in urgent need so long as Ruggerio is in charge of
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  memorials. John Hurst, owner of Hurst Funeral Homes in La Salle, said
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  Ruggerio is a virtual one-man band who keeps all the military paraphernalia,
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  such as flags, in his truck so that he can deliver at
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  a moment’s notice.
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  Andy is very dedicated to the military and to veterans, Hurst said.
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  He’s always upbeat and always willing to help a veteran. He just
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  goes the extra mile.
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  Mark Kerasotes, retired recently from U.S. Army National Guard, joined the Peru
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  Veterans Memorial Group and was impressed with Ruggerio’s organization and diffuse skill
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  set. Ruggerio handles the equipment, juggles the calls, and always finds time
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  to work with the bereaved.
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  He’s the bedrock for the Peru Veterans Memorial Group, Kerasotes said.
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  Ruggerio is a Ladd native who had wondered what to do with
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  his life after graduating Hall High School in 1971. An attractive option
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  was military service. Although the Vietnam War was in full swing, Ruggerio
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  wasn’t daunted by the possibility of combat duty and enlisted with the
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  U.S. Air Force.
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  He was fortunate, insofar as he initially drew stateside and/or non-combat assignments
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  abroad. These include Chris Air Force Base 1971-73; Wiborn Air
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  Force Base, Germany 1973-75; Little Rock AFB 1975-83,
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  Como, Sicily 1983-85; Green Common, England 1985-89; and Kirkland
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  AFB 1989-91.
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  Initially, he fueled combat aircraft and later, after meticulous screening, worked on
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  intercontinental ballistic missiles.
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  My job was propulsion, rocket engines, and doing the ordnance and explosives,
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  he said. I was a heavy equipment operator.
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  After the Damascus incident, he transitioned into ground-launched cruise missiles. It was
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  work that took him from England to Germany to Sicily. As he
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  approached his 20th birthday, Operation Desert Storm was activated.
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  Now stationed in Albuquerque, New Mexico and working on the Star Wars
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  missile defense system Ruggerio waited to see whether he’d be rotated into
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  the Persian Gulf, but the hostilities ended after a few days. Ruggerio
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  soon retired as a tech sergeant in 1991.
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  As a civilian, he worked in general contracting and as a long-distance
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  truck driver. Ruggerio became, and remains, a member and past president of
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  the commission board for the La Salle County Veterans Assistance Commission. Christa
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  Hammers, VAC superintendent, said he’s a passionate advocate for all veterans.
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  He’s always the first to come over and give us a flag
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  to replace one that’s ripped or torn, Hammers said, or to give
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  us ideas on how to better benefit veterans in the area. His
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  heart is always in the right place.
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  He also served as a village trustee in his native Ladd. Rhonda
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  Bezely served on the Ladd Village Board with Ruggerio in the early
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  2020s. As a village trustee, she remembered, Ruggerio was thorough and principled
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  an approach wasn’t always greeted enthusiastically by other village officials.
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  I appreciated Andy high standards, Bezely said. He was always willing to
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  go and look into things and do what’s best for the village.
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  By the time Ruggerio retired for good in 2014, he’d become active
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  in local American Legion and VFW posts and began participating in funerals
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  and memorials.
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  To me, it means a lot to give back to our veterans
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  and provide the proper service they have coming, he said.
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  He also held the less prideful task of closing Peru VFW Post
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  8232 during the pandemic.
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  Ruggerio then was post commander and hesitant about serving another term. In
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  the event he bowed out, there was nobody to take his place.
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  So Ruggerio and a few dozen remaining members decided in June 2020
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  to disband the post and surrendered the charter. It was believed to
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  be the first closure of a VFW post in the Illinois Valley.
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  When he’s asked to stand up for a deceased veteran, he never
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  hesitates to don his uniform and greet the mourners.
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  I’ve probably done over 200 military funerals, Ruggerio said. And I enjoyed
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  doing that. I’ve been doing it for you, like I said, many
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  years now.