thedrifter
07-22-07, 07:38 AM
Photos of veterans grace cafe walls
By Kevin Chandler
Temple Daily Telegram
ROSEBUD — You can fly to Washington to see the Vietnam War Memorial, or visit Pearl Harbor and read the names of those who died on the Arizona, but to see their faces and hear their stories, take a trip to Rosebud and swing by the Hiway Cafe on Highway 77.
As you walk in the front door, you will see more than 250 veterans staring back at you from the walls of this country restaurant.
Framed pictures of veterans from all branches of the armed forces line the wood paneled walls and, along with the catfish special, one can enjoy enough history to fill two libraries.
It all started in 2000 when owner Martha Kutschbach put up several pictures of family members who had served during World War II. After a while people began to ask if they could put up pictures of their relatives, until eventually the pictures of veterans became the dominant feature of the cafe.
Now people come specifically to see the pictures, and many more send in photos to add to the collection. She has pictures dating back as far as the Civil War and has recent snapshots of soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Many of the faces hanging on the wall can also be seen sitting around the tables today, looking a little older but as proud as ever.
During lunch, James Bell sits within view of an old portrait of him as an Army corporal. He said he is very appreciative of what the restaurant does.
“I think it’s great, I think what they’re doing here is great,” Bell said.
Regulars Fran and Less Heugatter like to sit in the corner surrounded by pictures of their brothers, fathers and uncles hanging behind them.
Kutschbach doesn’t like to put a description beside each picture because she likes to relate history face to face. She knows the origins of nearly every one of the 265 pictures in the cafe, and when she gets started spinning a tale the rest of the staff knows to be ready to fend for themselves for a while.
Sitting on the counter are some of her newest acquisitions — two pictures of pilots in World War II. She also pointed out the portrait of a man who survived 400 combat missions in Vietnam.
“If you can survive 400 combat missions, you must have a very special purpose in life,” Kutschbach said.
In the right corner as you walk in is a row of seven brothers who all went to war. All but one of them returned to the United States safely.
Bill Allen used to entertain the troops dressed as a clown, and there is a black-and-white photo of him in full costume, riding the nose of a fighter jet made up to look like a bucking bull.
The face of Buddy Garett can be seen at the right side of the restaurant. Fighting in World War II, he took some shrapnel during a battle but offered his place in the ambulance to others more seriously injured. Now, several decades later, he is fighting with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to get his Purple Heart for his untreated injury. She said he doesn’t want a dime, he just wants some American metal in exchange for foreign metal still lodged in his body.
Along with her regulars, she gets customers from all over the state and beyond.
Several years ago a man with a heavy French accent sat down at a table — a beret perched on his head — and asked about the picture of her uncle Paul Sanders. Sanders joined the Army when he was 18. He parachuted into Normandy and was in George S. Patton’s 3rd Army during the Battle of the Bulge.
The former resident of southern France immediately asked to meet Sanders, and it came out that when he was 12 years old his family was starving under the jackboots of Nazi oppression and the day his village was liberated was the happiest day of his life.
The man, whose first name was Michel, came to America to build custom furniture, retired to Gause and by happenstance stepped into the Hiway Cafe. He and Sanders talked about the war for three hours, and Kutschbach said that’s the magic of the tribute wall.
She remembers when a man from Montana named Larry Wilson walked in one day and asked about the picture of Royce Hudson, a Marine in Vietnam. It turns out this man was Hudson’s drill instructor in 1969 in San Diego during the Vietnam War.
Kutschbach was amazed that of the thousands of Marines Wilson trained, he remembered Hudson and picked out his picture hanging on a wall in a Rosebud cafe.
She said stories like these give her chills.
“When we read about history it’s not nearly as touching as hearing about it firsthand,” Kutschbach said. “We need to not forget what they did. If I have to build another room to fit all the pictures I’ll do that.”
Ellie
By Kevin Chandler
Temple Daily Telegram
ROSEBUD — You can fly to Washington to see the Vietnam War Memorial, or visit Pearl Harbor and read the names of those who died on the Arizona, but to see their faces and hear their stories, take a trip to Rosebud and swing by the Hiway Cafe on Highway 77.
As you walk in the front door, you will see more than 250 veterans staring back at you from the walls of this country restaurant.
Framed pictures of veterans from all branches of the armed forces line the wood paneled walls and, along with the catfish special, one can enjoy enough history to fill two libraries.
It all started in 2000 when owner Martha Kutschbach put up several pictures of family members who had served during World War II. After a while people began to ask if they could put up pictures of their relatives, until eventually the pictures of veterans became the dominant feature of the cafe.
Now people come specifically to see the pictures, and many more send in photos to add to the collection. She has pictures dating back as far as the Civil War and has recent snapshots of soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Many of the faces hanging on the wall can also be seen sitting around the tables today, looking a little older but as proud as ever.
During lunch, James Bell sits within view of an old portrait of him as an Army corporal. He said he is very appreciative of what the restaurant does.
“I think it’s great, I think what they’re doing here is great,” Bell said.
Regulars Fran and Less Heugatter like to sit in the corner surrounded by pictures of their brothers, fathers and uncles hanging behind them.
Kutschbach doesn’t like to put a description beside each picture because she likes to relate history face to face. She knows the origins of nearly every one of the 265 pictures in the cafe, and when she gets started spinning a tale the rest of the staff knows to be ready to fend for themselves for a while.
Sitting on the counter are some of her newest acquisitions — two pictures of pilots in World War II. She also pointed out the portrait of a man who survived 400 combat missions in Vietnam.
“If you can survive 400 combat missions, you must have a very special purpose in life,” Kutschbach said.
In the right corner as you walk in is a row of seven brothers who all went to war. All but one of them returned to the United States safely.
Bill Allen used to entertain the troops dressed as a clown, and there is a black-and-white photo of him in full costume, riding the nose of a fighter jet made up to look like a bucking bull.
The face of Buddy Garett can be seen at the right side of the restaurant. Fighting in World War II, he took some shrapnel during a battle but offered his place in the ambulance to others more seriously injured. Now, several decades later, he is fighting with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to get his Purple Heart for his untreated injury. She said he doesn’t want a dime, he just wants some American metal in exchange for foreign metal still lodged in his body.
Along with her regulars, she gets customers from all over the state and beyond.
Several years ago a man with a heavy French accent sat down at a table — a beret perched on his head — and asked about the picture of her uncle Paul Sanders. Sanders joined the Army when he was 18. He parachuted into Normandy and was in George S. Patton’s 3rd Army during the Battle of the Bulge.
The former resident of southern France immediately asked to meet Sanders, and it came out that when he was 12 years old his family was starving under the jackboots of Nazi oppression and the day his village was liberated was the happiest day of his life.
The man, whose first name was Michel, came to America to build custom furniture, retired to Gause and by happenstance stepped into the Hiway Cafe. He and Sanders talked about the war for three hours, and Kutschbach said that’s the magic of the tribute wall.
She remembers when a man from Montana named Larry Wilson walked in one day and asked about the picture of Royce Hudson, a Marine in Vietnam. It turns out this man was Hudson’s drill instructor in 1969 in San Diego during the Vietnam War.
Kutschbach was amazed that of the thousands of Marines Wilson trained, he remembered Hudson and picked out his picture hanging on a wall in a Rosebud cafe.
She said stories like these give her chills.
“When we read about history it’s not nearly as touching as hearing about it firsthand,” Kutschbach said. “We need to not forget what they did. If I have to build another room to fit all the pictures I’ll do that.”
Ellie