PRESCOTT – Veteran Terry Budworth’s message is simple yet powerful: “I think everybody has a duty to do something for their city, and mine is the American Legion. You shouldn’t spend 50 years doing nothing for the town you live in.”

Budworth will be the featured speaker at this year’s Veterans Day ceremony at Prescott High School, scheduled for 9 a.m. Nov. 11.

“Unless I get cold feet,” Budworth joked.

American Legion Post 61 Commander Jerry Klasen “told me what a wonderful person I am and what a wonderful speaker I’d be. He was laying it on thick. So he asked me and I owed him a favor, so I said yes.”

All joking aside, Budworth is honored to share his wisdom with Prescott students. He has been the Post 61 historian for the past eight or so years and a member of the American Legion for 50.

A New Richmond native, Budworth attended college at St. Thomas to study pre-forestry, but decided by his sophomore year that he’d like to take a different path. He joined the Army in 1961 and got out in 1964.

As a member of the Army Security Agency, he served as a clerk typist in Frankfurt, Germany.

“What I did was keep track of where all the people were in the security agency in Europe and I sent that to the Pentagon every morning,” Budworth said. “I spent half a year in training and was in Germany for 2.5 years. It was the best years of my life. I had an office job; it was peace time. This was before Vietnam, so it was 9-5.”

When he returned from the service, he earned a degree in biology from UW-River Falls. He worked at Prairie Island when the nuclear power plant was being built, in the quality assurance and control department. He worked many different careers throughout his life, but the one thing that remained constant, besides his family, was his American Legion membership. His time in the military had a lasting impression on him.

“You learn comradeship, you learn duty and loyalty, those kind of things. You don’t know it at the time, but you’re developing a lot of social skills because you’re living in close contact with quite a few people,” Budworth said.

Warren Huber recruited him to Prescott American Legion Post 61 and the rest is history.

“I’m one of those people who has a hard time saying no, so I get into a lot of situations where I’m the person that’ll do it. I’m not one of those people who joined and didn’t do anything,” he said.

He’s quick to give credit to Klasen, who has been instrumental in securing community support for the post, which recently underwent a remodel and has become a hub for community activities.

“Without Jerry, I don’t know where we’d be. There’s no moss that grows under his feet,” Budworth said. “We had some real talented people there, good electricians, good plumbers, good carpenters, people that could get the job done and get that place turned around. She’s a profitable operation now. But I take very little credit for the turnaround.”

Budworth encourages veterans, especially those just returning from the service or moving to town, to join the Legion because not only is it a great place to meet new people and contribute to civic duty, but the Legion also goes to bat for veterans benefits and programs in Washington.

“One thing I tell people is that even if you don’t do anything, we need membership because the number of members brings a certain amount of power,” Budworth said. “When the lobbyists for veterans go talk to a member of Congress, it’s nice to be able to say, I represent 3 million people rather than 100 people. That helps us to maintain our programs.”

Budworth’s message to the Veterans Day audience will talk about comradeship, history, why we gather on Veterans Day, respecting others and Prescott’s legacy of honoring veterans and their history.

“We always answered the call to serve the country,” Budworth said of Prescott residents.

He will also talk about why young people should consider going into the service, especially if they’re undecided about their future.

“A very small percentage of people actually get into combat situations, so they will teach you, they will give you a skill and you will get two or three years of getting into a field,” Budworth said. “You can pick what you want to do. When I went in, you went where they told you to go and you did what they told you to do. They have more people than any other business in the country.

“Students are the next keepers of our history. Without the military, you probably would not have the freedoms we do have. They maintain our freedom and democracy.”

Veterans are invited to partake in coffee and cookies prior to the Veterans Day ceremony at 8:15 a.m. in the Prescott High School Commons (1010 Dexter St.) RSVP at hsoffice@prescott.k12.wi.us or 715-262-5389.