Eagle Cane Project
Our goal is to provide PRESENTATION CANES to a select group of Post 9-11 Veterans who have received some manner of leg disability from combat related actions.
The Presentation Canes are based upon an eagle head design, personalized for the veteran. When possible and or practical, canes are to be carved and presented by participants from the same state as the veteran.
Click here for Archive entries
The Presentation Canes are based upon an eagle head design, personalized for the veteran. When possible and or practical, canes are to be carved and presented by participants from the same state as the veteran.
Click here for Archive entries
Updated: 4 weeks 4 days ago
Ron Golec Presents
Jack,
The City of Waukegan, Illinois had a special Vet's Day celebration on Saturday Nov. 7.
At this event I presented an Eagle Cane to Sgt. Frank F. Reinier. He is the Commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart; Waukegan Chapter 323. He is the recipient of three Purple Hearts.
Here is the speech I gave along with that Eagle Cane:
Good afternoon ladies & gentlemen.
It's an honor & a privilege for me to be here today to pay tribute to our Veterans.
I was once asked the question, "What is a Vet?" and one answer I found was in the writings of Father Denis O'Brien, a chaplain with the U.S. Marine Corps:
Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in their eyes. Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding their bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul's ally forged in the refinery of adversity. Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem. You can't tell a Vet just by looking.
He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't run out of fuel. He is the barroom loudmouth whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel. She or he is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang. He is the POW who went away one person and came back another -- or didn't come back at all.
He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen combat, but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no account rednecks and gang members into Marines and teaching them to watch each other's backs. He is the parade riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand. He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.
He is any of the three anonymous heros in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep. He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket - palsied now and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come. He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being - a person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.
He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known.
"It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protestor to burn the flag."
So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say "Thank You". That's all most people need and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded.
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Several years ago, Mr. Jack Nitz, a Navy Veteran who served in the Korean War was moved by a news report about injured Veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. He started making canes for those Veterans who have sustained a combat related injury and were in need of a cane.
The requests for more canes was more than he could handle, so he put out a request for other woodcarvers to help him. This became known as "The Eagle Cane Project". So named because each cane has a carved Eagle's head for a handle. We now carve these canes for any wounded Veteran who needs one, regardless of which war he or she sustained an injury that requires one.
As a U.S. Marine and also a wood carver, I was proud to have joined Jack and other woodcarvers from across these United States to help make these canes.
Here then is one of the canes that I made especially for Sgt. Frank Rainier who served in Viet Nam with the U.S. Army.
____________________________________________
Then I gave him the cane. Tears were flowing from Frank as well as from many folks in the audience of 150. Frank became a U.S. Citizen while fighting in Viet Nam. I will sent pics of the presentation in another E-Mail. The News Sun Newspaper was there taking pics & getting more info from Frank, so maybe I'll have some better pics to send you at a later date whenever they get to the newspaper.
Ron
The City of Waukegan, Illinois had a special Vet's Day celebration on Saturday Nov. 7.
At this event I presented an Eagle Cane to Sgt. Frank F. Reinier. He is the Commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart; Waukegan Chapter 323. He is the recipient of three Purple Hearts.
Here is the speech I gave along with that Eagle Cane:
Good afternoon ladies & gentlemen.
It's an honor & a privilege for me to be here today to pay tribute to our Veterans.
I was once asked the question, "What is a Vet?" and one answer I found was in the writings of Father Denis O'Brien, a chaplain with the U.S. Marine Corps:
Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in their eyes. Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding their bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul's ally forged in the refinery of adversity. Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem. You can't tell a Vet just by looking.
He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't run out of fuel. He is the barroom loudmouth whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel. She or he is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang. He is the POW who went away one person and came back another -- or didn't come back at all.
He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen combat, but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no account rednecks and gang members into Marines and teaching them to watch each other's backs. He is the parade riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand. He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.
He is any of the three anonymous heros in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep. He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket - palsied now and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come. He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being - a person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.
He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known.
"It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protestor to burn the flag."
So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say "Thank You". That's all most people need and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Several years ago, Mr. Jack Nitz, a Navy Veteran who served in the Korean War was moved by a news report about injured Veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. He started making canes for those Veterans who have sustained a combat related injury and were in need of a cane.
The requests for more canes was more than he could handle, so he put out a request for other woodcarvers to help him. This became known as "The Eagle Cane Project". So named because each cane has a carved Eagle's head for a handle. We now carve these canes for any wounded Veteran who needs one, regardless of which war he or she sustained an injury that requires one.
As a U.S. Marine and also a wood carver, I was proud to have joined Jack and other woodcarvers from across these United States to help make these canes.
Here then is one of the canes that I made especially for Sgt. Frank Rainier who served in Viet Nam with the U.S. Army.
____________________________________________
Then I gave him the cane. Tears were flowing from Frank as well as from many folks in the audience of 150. Frank became a U.S. Citizen while fighting in Viet Nam. I will sent pics of the presentation in another E-Mail. The News Sun Newspaper was there taking pics & getting more info from Frank, so maybe I'll have some better pics to send you at a later date whenever they get to the newspaper.
Ron
Different Styles - 2
Cane #1 by Bob Dixson, Milford Carvers, Michigan Wood Carvers Ass’n. Bob’s cane is a stylized representation of the Eagle Head with good color contrasts and distinctive feather tracts that shows a lot of attention to finishing details.
Cane #2 and 3 by Rusty Johnson EOWA, Tulsa, Ok. Rusty is a retired commercial artist and it certainly shows in these two views of the cane, the movement of the flag was captured and with the star field and strips made a great collar for the cane. Rusty used different colors for the inscription and the Vets name making this a well planned and finely executed cane.
Cane # 4. This cane by Walter Wharton, Canes of Texas carver uses carved symbols depicting the medals and badges the Vet has been awarded . Walt carves each item in relief then paints with the appropriate color to make the commemorative items permanent .
Cane # 5 by Bud Murray of Camdenton Missouri is a study in careful planning and execution of the vets requested items. Bud both turns his own shafts as well as carving the heads and decorating the canes with decoupage and lettering.
Cane # 6 by Judy Gregg, EOWA Tulsa, Oklahoma is her first Eagle Head cane. The head is well proportioned with the eyes pointing forward and a nicely detailed beak. Judy uses color very effectively to highlight her detailed feathering. The Blue color field with stars make a great collar for the shaft which has a deeply carved red white and blue ribbon winding around the cane.
Cane # 7 by Andy Woodard with decoration by Peggy and Jerry Tanner, Wood Den Carvers from Columbia Tennessee shows a lot of planning and careful finishing of the head and shaft. The head of the eagle is joined to the shaft with a connecting collar of darker wood making for a very smooth transition from head to shaft. Some of the medals are attached to the cane and the inscriptions are woodburned onto the shaft.
Cane # 8 by David Sterling, Michigan Area Wood Carvers Ass’n with decoration by Harold Joseph is another outstanding cane. David used deep cuts into the head to bring the feathering out to the “ruffled” look we often see in the pictures. David’s finishing techniques and painting put a great looking head on the shaft decorated by Harold Joseph (for details of Harold’s decoupage techniques see the tutorial section of the eaglecane.com web site).
Cane # 9 Denny Bell, Racine Wisconsin Woodcarvers uses a very impressive font on this Memorial Cane in memory of a fallen Wisconsin Marine. Denny’s technique for applying the lettering is described in the Tutorial section of the web site and has helped a lot of the carvers, who take the time to learn his simple method, make some very neatly inscribed canes.
For more views of canes go to the Photos section of the web site, click on a photo to enlarge and study the canes. Learn by our mistakes and by the “good stuff” too. jack
Cane #2 and 3 by Rusty Johnson EOWA, Tulsa, Ok. Rusty is a retired commercial artist and it certainly shows in these two views of the cane, the movement of the flag was captured and with the star field and strips made a great collar for the cane. Rusty used different colors for the inscription and the Vets name making this a well planned and finely executed cane.
Cane # 4. This cane by Walter Wharton, Canes of Texas carver uses carved symbols depicting the medals and badges the Vet has been awarded . Walt carves each item in relief then paints with the appropriate color to make the commemorative items permanent .
Cane # 5 by Bud Murray of Camdenton Missouri is a study in careful planning and execution of the vets requested items. Bud both turns his own shafts as well as carving the heads and decorating the canes with decoupage and lettering.
Cane # 6 by Judy Gregg, EOWA Tulsa, Oklahoma is her first Eagle Head cane. The head is well proportioned with the eyes pointing forward and a nicely detailed beak. Judy uses color very effectively to highlight her detailed feathering. The Blue color field with stars make a great collar for the shaft which has a deeply carved red white and blue ribbon winding around the cane.
Cane # 7 by Andy Woodard with decoration by Peggy and Jerry Tanner, Wood Den Carvers from Columbia Tennessee shows a lot of planning and careful finishing of the head and shaft. The head of the eagle is joined to the shaft with a connecting collar of darker wood making for a very smooth transition from head to shaft. Some of the medals are attached to the cane and the inscriptions are woodburned onto the shaft.
Cane # 8 by David Sterling, Michigan Area Wood Carvers Ass’n with decoration by Harold Joseph is another outstanding cane. David used deep cuts into the head to bring the feathering out to the “ruffled” look we often see in the pictures. David’s finishing techniques and painting put a great looking head on the shaft decorated by Harold Joseph (for details of Harold’s decoupage techniques see the tutorial section of the eaglecane.com web site).
Cane # 9 Denny Bell, Racine Wisconsin Woodcarvers uses a very impressive font on this Memorial Cane in memory of a fallen Wisconsin Marine. Denny’s technique for applying the lettering is described in the Tutorial section of the web site and has helped a lot of the carvers, who take the time to learn his simple method, make some very neatly inscribed canes.
For more views of canes go to the Photos section of the web site, click on a photo to enlarge and study the canes. Learn by our mistakes and by the “good stuff” too. jack
Eagle Cane Project
