Today, I salute World War II Veteran Nate Ericson. A resident of Lawrence, was born in Topeka in 1924. He enlisted in the Army and attended the University of Kansas for three months before getting called into service. Nate just turned 102 years old. Ericson fought in the Battle of the Bulge, one of the deadliest campaigns of World War II on the Western Front. Lasting from Dec. 16, 1944, to Jan. 25, 1945, the skirmish saw about 19,000 American soldiers killed. It was Germany’s last major offensive, and Ericson said that if Allied Forces had lost the battle, they would have also lost the war. In the decades since the war ended, Ericson has mostly declined to share his story, but he thinks people need a reminder of what he learned. “War is hell,” he said. “And you don’t want it. It’s horrible. In the decades since he came home, Ericson has spent time building model airplanes. In 2010, he won first place at the Jayhawk Model Masters building competition. Thank you for keeping history alive, Nate, and THANK YOU for your service.