26th Veteran of the Quarter, Pete Andela, US Army
April 16, 2017
I am nominating my dad as Branson Bank’s Veteran of the Quarter because he is my hero. He had a rough life, yet gave no excuses when it was his turn to serve. He did it willingly and with pride, and like everything else he has done in his life, he did it to the very best of his ability, always going above and beyond what was expected. He has always been a hard worker and did not let his life be an excuse to take the easy way out or shortcut. He is proud of his family and his country and mostly for his service to the USA. All veterans should be honored and recognized as heroes.
Cpl. Pete Andela served from 1953 to 1955 in Germany during the Korean War. He was stationed in Giessen, Germany where he worked on guns and was a mail clerk. He was in the Army’s 44th Field Artillery Battalion and was 20 years old when he began his service for our country. He and 3 other buddies signed up with the promise that they could all stay together. They wound up in different countries… one in Japan, one in Hawaii, one in the States, and Pete in Germany. Back then, it wasn’t common to take a plane, but a ship. He set sail for Germany, arriving there 2 weeks later. Times sure have changed. A memory he likes to share as if it were yesterday, is the time he woke up with a snake in his sleeping bag… let’s just say that Germany is one snake short now!
After the service, he joined JB Thomas Carnival and worked for them a year, then went to Grandview, MO., and worked in a bakery. He met his future wife, Lois, there and they married in 1958. In May of this year, they will have been married 59 years. He started his law enforcement career in Grandview in 1959. He escorted both Presidents, Kennedy and Johnson, and played poker with President Harry S. Truman. He went on to work for the City of Forsyth PD, Taney County SO, and then the state at the prison in Fordland, MO. where he later retired from in 1997. He was lovingly known as “Kojak” because of his hairstyle (or lack thereof). A fun twist of fate, one night while patrolling the streets of Taney County, he pulled over a vehicle and after talking to the gentlemen, he realized it was one of his commanding officers from his service in Germany! Small world!
Pete and Lois have 5 children. Jennifer (Alan) Forrest of Forsyth, Jackie Spradling of Branson, Jeff, aka Bub (Jenny) of Branson, Jimmy (Tammie) of Ozark, and Jeri (Kevin) King of Kirbyville. They have 15 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
THE PROUD. THE STRONG. THE LOYAL. OUR VETERANS!