The Seventh Annual Patriots Luncheon presented by the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce was held at the Tournament Players Club in Valencia on Thursday, honoring local veterans in Santa Clarita.
The event kicked off with the traditional bagpipes played by Chelsea Joyce and an invocation sang by Amos Clemmons, a retired colonel who served in the Vietnam War.
A committee chose seven veterans to highlight during the luncheon, many of whom are successful in the business world.
One such honoree was Ervin Thuerk.
Thuerk was drafted at the age of 18 and sent to Fort Sheridan, Illinois. He eventually received unit medical training and served in various locations including England, France and Germany.
Thuerk was honorably discharged from the army in 1946. He held a 29-year-career as a vice president of store operations for over 50 Jewell Food Stores.
Gordon Rogers, born in 1925, joined the US Army Air Corp when he was 17.
He served as a tail-gunner of a B-24 Liberator in World War II. He was honorably discharged from the military upon returning home.
Rogers went on to have a successful career at Pacific Airmotive Corporation in Burbank and has lived in Santa Clarita for 40 years.
All proceeds of the event went back to the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce.
