Veterans Day is a time of reflection and honoring those who served. It’s an opportunity to remember family members for their military experience and service to country. The recognition and ceremonies occur in a variety of settings, though for a few families with multiple individuals involved in military service, the day can have added significance.
For Perryville Mayor Ken Baer, five of his grandsons are currently serving in the military in one capacity or another.
Samuel Baer joined the Air National Guard in 2017. When serving, Baer is stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base, just south of Knob Noster and west of Sedalia.
“I didn’t really know what I wanted to do after high school, so I thought the military would be a good option,” said Samuel, a 2017 St. Vincent High School graduate in 2017, joined the Air National Guard same year.
Baer recalled the thought process of joining the Guard.
“I wasn’t very familiar with the reserves, so I decided to do the Guard,” he said. “I wanted to stay close to home, didn’t want to do active duty.”
The eight-week training for this endeavor took place at Lockland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.
Baer officially joined in April, began studying and completed this basic training in September.
He is a jet crew chief and the schedules for this varies depending on the day or shift.
With the Air National Guard, Baer signed a six-year contract, of which he has completed about four-and-a-half years. He Has about 18 months until he has to decide on whether or not he plans to continue serving in the Air National Guard
Samuel’s older brother, Isaac Baer, is a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves.
Isaac has been involved in the military since 2016, when he enrolled in a reserve officer training command program offered at Missouri S&T in Rolla. Isaac was commissioned in 2021.
Isaac didn’t have any specific memories of Veterans Day events or ceremonies while attending grade or high school.
“With ROTC we always did different events and whatnot for Veterans Day,” Isaac said. “Being in the military now, it’s an honor to get to participate in Veterans Day ceremonies. Grandpa (Baer) recruited me and my brother to help.”
Samuel and Isaac helped with a flag ceremony to commemorate Veterans Day at their alma mater Nov. 10. Isaac is now stationed with an engineering unit in Memphis, Tenn. He was interested in learning an officer position, which would put him in a leadership role.
“That’s kind of neat to see the kids respecting and supporting our troops in that manner,” Isaac said.
Samuel also spoke about returning to his former school since joining the military.
“I think it just means a lot, Veterans Day, showing appreciation for veterans and all those who have served,” he said.