Col. J E (Jer) Yates:  

Coleman Historical Society - Coleman, Michigan November 11 at 10:41 AM Today I'd like to honor the Service of J. Eldon Yates. A hometown boy who signed up for the Military at a young age and continued to serve our country long after he left Coleman. Jer has had an impressive and interesting life and he's shared some of it here. Jer was born on the family farm about five miles out of town. He started school in a one-room building for kindergarten and after Christmas break the school moved the children into the new Elementary School. During his time in the military, he worked in D.C. and lived in Northern Virginia and Maryland and served on three continents. He worked with several Presidents and Senators. He was a close friend of General Westmoreland, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Jer met then Vice President Bush on St. Patrick's Day in 1981 and worked with him on Veteran's and national defense issues and remained good friends with him until the President passed away. Jer's dad served in WWI, his oldest brother served during WWII, his middle brother served during the Korean War and Jer served in Vietnam and Korea. Thank you for your service Jer, and thank you for sharing your story! Coleman is proud of your Service!! Posted s couple of Years ago. Traveled to Prague & Amsterdam last summer Love both. Also Hunting with Son In Poland near Warclaw. Beautiful mid-evil City and wonderful country.. Enjoying January and Februarys on Perdido Key, Florida each year, My Son and I returned to South Africa, The trip was a Father's day gift. We Hunted the Kalahari Plains and the Mpumalanga Mountains. I have added Seefeld in Tirol (Austrian Alps) as one of my annual vacations, always with a side trip to Vienna.. wounderful quint old City. With good friends. Heading back end of November, home in time for Christmas. I have traveled much of the World. Most of Western Europe and some of Eastern. As well as The Caribbean and West Indies. Central America and much of Asia. My Son and I went on Safari. We Flew from JFK, NY to Johannesburg (18 hours) and traveled five hours north and west to Limpopo province near the Mozambique boarder. No Serengeti plains, just thick, thorny brush in South Africa. Still it was awesome. And we truly had a wonderful time. None of the game went to waste. Some parts were taken to a butcher and some were given to poor people. Not a place t...Expand for more