Our Pay it Forward Spotlight Award for September shines a light on a local veteran who hasn’t let time slow him down. He still works to recognize the sacrifice our military men and women have made for their country.
This month’s award winner is Rick Kelly in Otsego.
Kelly is an Air Force veteran, who at 83 years old still gives back to his country and fellow vets.
We sat down with him outside VFW 3030 in Otsego.
“It was my honor to serve this country, and if I wasn’t 102 years old, I’d go back in again,” Kelly joked.
Some veterans may go decades without a community like Kelly has at his local VFW. We asked Kelly what it means to him.
Even after 60 years, it’s clear the emotion sits just beneath the surface.
“What a place like this is, when you get out, the guys that you know that never made it, you will never forget,” he shared.
Inside the walls of a VFW are some of the only people who know what that feeling is like.
The shared experience veterans have is what keeps him going.