Veteran guest speaker shares brain injury story in Elgin

Larsen Middle School eighth-grader Tyler Sondergaard said his hand shot up in the air when his teacher asked who wanted to attend the Veterans Day ceremony in Elgin.

"I just had to do it," Tyler said of his first such event. "I think it was very nice that they decided to do this. This is a great way to honor the veterans."

Tyler and his classmates were among a crowd of about 100 people who attended the ceremony Tuesday morning at Veterans Memorial Park along the banks of the Fox River.

Keynote speaker Army veteran Shane Scherer told his story of surviving a small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenade attack in Afghanistan on May 29, 2009, the same day he was told he'd be coming home soon.

Scherer went through an impromptu, on-the-field craniotomy, followed by repatriation and a year of therapy to relearn how to eat and walk.

"I call myself an ambassador of the silent injury of war - traumatic brain injury," said Scherer, who now serves as a veterans constituent advocate for U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam.

Doc Sheehan, commander of VFW Post 1307 in Elgin, prayed for all veterans' wounds to be healed.

"We are here to recall all of the men and women who have served, some who have gone on to their final reward, and some who are future veterans that still serve today," he said.

Vietnam War veteran Clyde Larsen of Elgin said he attends the Elgin ceremony every year.

"I wouldn't miss it. As long as I'm capable, I'll be down here."

Elgin Mayor David Kaptain encouraged people to make use of the park throughout the year.

"You don't see any cannons here. You don't see any tanks," he said. "This is a place of peace and tranquillity - and that's what our veterans fought for."