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By Al Benson
“Mr. Veteran” was remembered by fellow veterans and friends Thursday, Aug. 5.
Ed Doepel of Yorkville, Aurora Police Department chaplain, recalled the late Herschel L. Luckinbill of Montgomery for his service to veterans and the community.
Doepel, an Army veteran and Aurora Police Department chaplain, spoke at the August 5 meeting of Fox Valley Veterans Breakfast Club at Oswego American Legion Post 675.
Luckinbill, 75, a Navy Vietnam veteran and community and veterans’ advocate, died suddenly of a heart attack July 28 at home in Charlotte, Tenn. where he had moved four months earlier. A celebration of his life was held Monday, Aug. 2, near his home and a burial service was held Tuesday, Aug. 3, in the rotunda of the Middle Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery in Nashville.
Luckinbill became Breakfast Club president in 2008 and doubled the Club’s attendance.
Len Wass of Oswego, a retired Navy submarine captain, called Luckinbill “Mr. Veteran” for the many efforts he made to help military veterans.
“(Luckinbill) has done more for veterans in this area than any other single person ever,” Wass said.
When as a machinist mate on the USS O’Brien, Vietnamese forces shelled Luckinbill’s ship December 23, 1966, and killed two shipmates. He earned the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with three Bronze Stars and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.
—Al Benson