News : Veteran John Gualtier: An eager volunteer, and a once-reluctant speaker

John Gualtier stood for two hours a few days ago, moving an entire room full of North Linn High School students -- and a television anchorwoman -- to tears with his stories of life as a an Army medic on the battlefields of World War II.

It's something Gualtier does a lot these days -- but it is also something it took him almost 60 years to do for the first time.

Gualtier will speak again about his military service -- and his years of volunteering to help other Iowa veterans -- when he receives a "Nine Who Care" award from KCRG-TV this Saturday evening. The taping of Gualtier's presentation was for a 30-minute tribute the station is preparing in honor of Gualtier and eight other Iowans.

The cameras were rolling as Gualtier stood with a microphone in his pocket, telling the North Linn High School students about seeing his comrades injured and killed, and his efforts to help those soldiers who could be saved.

But for years, he refused to speak about those experiences at all.

"I had the opportunity to meet John ten years ago," says Vinton-Shellsburg High School Social Studies teacher Kelly Steffen, who nominated Gualtier for the KCRG award. "I was introduced to John after a Veteran's Day assembly. I asked him to tell me about his service. He explained he was an Army medic at the ripe age of 18. He was sent to the European theater during WWII and saved many American lives and with his fellow soldiers, liberated a Russian P.O.W. camp and two concentration camps."

Mrs. Steffen says she "begged" Gualtier to talk to her students about his time in the service, but at first he said no.

"He suffers from severe PTSD and did not feel comfortable at first," Steffen recalls. "But after a little prodding from me and some of his VFW buddies, we were able to talk him into speaking."

Fellow VFW member Don Roepke, who has been a VFW leader for many years on the local and state levels, recalls Gualtier's first conversations with high school students, and how two fellow veterans stood close to his side to offer moral support.

"John had to determine on the battlefield, which of his buddies were dying," said Roepke. "Veterans don't talk to each other about those experiences, let alone others."

Now, Gualtier is a regular speaker, who has shared his story with many students at Vinton-Shellsburg and North Linn schools.

"For the past eight years, he has shared with hundreds of students the lessons he learned from WWII," says Steffen. "He is one of their favorite speakers."

But Steffen soon learned that Gualtier would often have to say "No", or at least, "Not today," to some of her requests because of previous commitments to those veterans.

That is because has volunteered for some PTSD studies, so his input can help those soldiers returning from the Middle East. He has also personally helped several of those returning veterans. This is in addition to nearly 7,000 hours he has spent accompanying and/or driving veterans to medical appointments at VA facilities in eastern Iowa. He has also accompanied high school students on tours of the VA Hospital in Iowa City.

In her nomination letter to KCRG, Steffen wrote that Gualtier makes a difference by his words and deeds, and also by inspiring others to give back to America's veterans.

"Not only does John personally volunteer, he inspires others to do the same," wrote Steffen. "At our high school, we have donated money and cookies to the VA hospital, because John motivates us. From the time John enlisted to serve his country, this 86-year-old man has shown what it truly means to be a contributing member of society!"

See an earlier story about Gualtier's "Nine Who Care" honor HERE.