Today’s Star Spangled Salute honors 96-year old World War II Veteran William Cherkasky.  After studying medicine at Northwestern, William and a friend wanted to see the war so they enlisted in the Army Reserve. His friend went to 106th Infantry and did not survive the Battle of the Bulge.  William joined the 89th and marched from France to Germany.  Part of that tour he helped liberated a concentration camp.  After the war his life took a turn from medicine to politics and it wasn’t until he was Chief of Staff for Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin that the idea of the environment being a hot button issue really sank in. A few years later, William helped create and launch Earth Day, now recognized on this day, April 20th, every year.  Thank you William for caring about the planet and THANK YOU for your service.

The Star Spangled Salute is presented by