MCFARLAND, Wi — The 34th Annual “Heat’s On” event took place on Saturday.
Each year, Madison Area Mechanical & Sheet Metal Contractors Association (MSC) and Steamfitters Local 601 spend an October day servicing 60 Madison veterans’ furnaces to prepare for the winter. A pair of contractors who are military veterans went to the home of Elmer Henderson, a World War II veteran, to start the day.
“That’s really above and beyond what I’d hoped for, to have other veterans come around, take a look if you needed something,” Henderson said. “That means a lot to us older guys, more than a young person could imagine.”
When he was 16, Elmer and his five best friends enlisted in the military. Soon after, they were honorably discharged when their age was disclosed. He is, and always has been, passionate about his country.
“They gave us all discharge, told us to come back later, and we did,” he said.
He served one and a half years in World War II. He said it’d be hard to elaborate on what it was like.
“I was aboard ship on my way to Japan when the war ended,” Henderson said. “Somebody said they dropped an atomic bomb, wiped out a whole city, we couldn’t believe it.”
In their furnace check, military veterans Dan Swanson and Mike Johnson found and fixed both a water and gas leak in the Henderson household. But, the furnace check isn’t why these veterans volunteer their time.
“It’s not about cleaning the furnace on a day like today,” Swanson said. it’s about the interactions with the veterans.”
“I don’t know a better way, with the skills that we learned through the union, and trades to serve the veterans that gave us the freedom that we have now,” Johnson added.
Henderson, Swanson, and Johnson all spoke to the serving nature of veterans, and believe today’s Heat’s On event embodies what it means to serve your country.
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