Image

On the Monday before Veterans Day, Nov. 11, Col. Rolf E. Mammen, commander of the 127th Maintenance Group stationed at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, was the guest speaker at Rotary of Grosse Pointe's luncheon meeting at, appropriately enough, the Grosse Pointe War Memorial, where he also serves as a member of the board. Mammen began by asking a question that stumps many: What is the origin of Veterans Day? Of course, the older Rotarians weren't stumped, many answering, correctly, Armistice Day, marking the end of World War I, the War to End all Wars, "which, unfortunately, it was not," Mammen said. Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day in 1954. Mammen grew up in Grosse Pointe Woods and graduated from Grosse Pointe North High School. Rotarian Lisa Gandelot, wife of President Jon Gandelot, recalled Mammen attending Ferry Elementary School when she was a teacher there. With the colonel following his talk were President Gandelot, left, and Program Committee Chair Ted Everingham, who introduced the speaker. Photo by John Minnis.