Veterans building for veterans in the Northwoods

By Meg Jones

Leroy Miller hopped off the bulldozer and grinned.

After eight years as an Army Ranger, including two tours in Afghanistan, Miller wanted to continue to use his military skills and serve his country. He became an apprentice in the construction trades and is accumulating thousands of hours on work sites to become a journeyman.

On a sunny day in Wisconsin’s Northwoods, Miller was spending some of those hours doing something he loved — helping fellow veterans.

“President Kennedy told us ‘Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.’ What better way to continue that than by coming out here and building something for veterans?” said Miller, 33, of New Berlin.

Miller and five other military veterans who are union apprentices, along with other members of International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139, are building a mile-long, paved trail to accommodate handicapped veterans who visit Camp American Legion near Lake Tomahawk.

The new trail, which is being built on an existing logging road, is scheduled to open by the end of the month and will be named after Wisconsin Medal of Honor recipient Gary Wetzel, a Vietnam veteran who was hired as an apprentice through Local 139 and spent more than four decades as an operating engineer. Wetzel will attend a ceremony opening the trail next month.

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