Free Republic

SIERRA VISTA — The annual Marine Corps League Toys for Tots Drive has begun. The event kicked off Saturday with the awarding of raffle prizes drawn on Sept. 13 during the Sierra Vista Oktoberfest. The prizes were officially presented at the Toys for Tots headquarters in Sierra Vista, while at the same time a recent participant in the Honor Flight program — Ralph Graves — made an appearance. It was an early Christmas for sister and brother Liberty West, 9, and Lincoln West, 5, winning a special 360 degree racer stunt bike and for 9-year-old Annamae Buhr, the recipient of...

Vietnam veteran robbed, killed on his way to deposit VFW money William Burtner had helped raise money for WWII vets' trip to Washington Army veteran William Burtner survived Vietnam and dedicated his life to helping other veterans. On Monday, Burtner was about to enter a bank in Midlothian to deposit money that the south suburb's Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2580 had raised during a benefit. He never made it inside. Burtner, 65, was assaulted and robbed outside the bank. He died Wednesday night in Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. An autopsy Thursday concluded Burtner died of hypertensive...