{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.murkowski.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=ea19e6d4-d52a-4dd2-9b4c-fe94d19fe957", "\u201cI Hope the Lord Took all of Our Men Up There for Defending the Freedoms of Our People\u201d", "2013-11-08", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "AK", "Lisa Murkowski", "M001153", "www.murkowski.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11.08.13\n\t\t\t \u201cI Hope the Lord Took all of Our Men Up There for Defending the Freedoms of Our People\u201d \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t Murkowski Honors Iconic Kenai Korea Veteran\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 As the United States commemorates Veterans Day weekend, Senator Lisa Murkowski is releasing her 18th Veteran Spotlight interview, focusing on the service of Kenai resident Herb Stettler who served in the U.S. Army and did a 13 month tour during the Korean War.\u00a0 Stettler is an active member of the Kenai Peninsula veteran community, supporting fellow veterans and honoring veteran sacrifice at local events and ceremonies \u2013 and has fostered a special bond with his neighbors for years that was reciprocated when they rallied to his aid last year.\r\nDuring his interview, Stettler recalls being 18 years old when he was asked to register for the draft.\u00a0 At 20, he enlisted in the Army and his superior officers capitalized on his farm-honed strength making him a machine gun operator.\u00a0 During his Korean War tour, Stettler says there were some \u201chairy times\u201d and he was often called upon to provide machine gun cover for his fellow soldiers to escape enemy fire.\r\n\r\n\r\nHerb Stettler, U.S. Army veteran.\r\n(Click on image for excerpt of Herb talking about one of his proudest moments of his Korean War deployment. \r\nCLICK HERE for the extended interview)\r\n\u00a0\r\n\u201cI hope that the Lord took all of our men up there for defending the freedoms of our people,\u201d Said Herb Stettler.\u00a0 \u201cFor those of us who made it home, we are there for each other.\u00a0 It\u2019s a camaraderie thing with your fellow veterans.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got something in common.\u00a0 You don\u2019t talk about it much- you\u2019re mostly talking about day to day stuff, but you are there to support each other.\u201d\r\nStettler was awarded the Bronze Star and the Combat Infantry Badge for his service.\u00a0 After he got out of the Army, Stettler made his way to Alaska, eventually settling on the Kenai Peninsula.\u00a0 Today, at 82 years old, he is an active officer for the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10046 and the American Legion where he works to honor veterans, their service, and our country.\u00a0 It\u2019s a commitment the Kenai community returned in an overwhelming way last year, when his home burnt to the ground and the community came together to build him a house.\r\n\u201cMy house caught fire.\u00a0 It was a chimney fire that got away and the whole house went,\u201d Said Stettler.\u00a0 \u201cThe community came in and everybody chipped in and they built me a 10 x 34 foot cabin and put a deck on it and an addition behind it.\u00a0 It is warm in there and it doesn\u2019t take much to heat it.\u00a0 They put plumbing in there and my goodness, I am living good.\u00a0 I sure thank the community.\u00a0 I owe them a lot.\u201d\r\n\u00a0\r\n\u201cHerb Stettlers\u2019 story is one of an American hero,\u201d said Senator Murkowski.\u00a0 \u201cHe has served our country and returned home where he continues to support active duty military members, veterans and the community as a whole.\u00a0 We owe it to veterans like Herb to honor them through sharing their stories, and we owe it to the rest of us to learn from the high levels of patriotism, commitment and service they demonstrate for us.\u201d\r\nThe \u201cVeteran Spotlight\u201d project is Senator Murkowski\u2019s monthly focus on an Alaska veteran of American conflicts worldwide to honor and draw well-deserved attention to Alaska\u2019s men and women who served.\u00a0 Today\u2019s installment is the eighteenth in the series that began on Memorial Day weekend of 2012.\u00a0 Every month, Sen. Murkowski posts a biography and an interview with an Alaskan who served our country abroad in conjunction with the Library of Congress\u2019 Veterans History Project.\u00a0 You can watch them all by clicking here.\u00a0\r\nSenator Murkowski invites all Alaskans to nominate a veteran from the 49th state to be featured in the Veteran Spotlight project.\u00a0 If you have a family member or friend in the community you think has a story to share, email Spotlight@Murkowski.Senate.Gov.\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n    \n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n     \n\t\n \n\t\n    \n    \n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t  \n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://www.murkowski.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=ea19e6d4-d52a-4dd2-9b4c-fe94d19fe957"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.656052190810442, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}