BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Kalamazoo County Republican Party//KGOP Events//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:KGOP Events X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/Detroit X-WR-CALDESC:Kalamazoo County Republican Party Events BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Detroit BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:19700308T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:19701101T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:event-217@crm.kgop.us DTSTAMP:20260928T021513Z DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20260911T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20260911T110000 SUMMARY:We Remember 9/11 DESCRIPTION:Friday is the 25th anniversary of 9/11\, one of the darkest day s in our nation’s history\, when Muslim terrorists killed 2\,977. Among t hose killed were 343 firefighters and paramedics\, plus 60 New York City an d Port Authority police officers. Twenty-two-year-old Brad Hoorn of Richlan d was among those killed in the World Trade Center.\n\nOn this anniversary\ , we honor the victims\, and remember how this evil act changed our world.\ n\nThe Friday KGOP Coffee features two men on the front lines during and af ter 9/11.\n\nDan Lundgren of Oshtemo\, a retired U.S. Customs and Border Pr otection Agriculture Specialist\, was on duty at Detroit Metropolitan Airpo rt (DTW) on September 11\, 2001\, as a US Department of Agriculture officer inspecting food entering the US from abroad. \n\nJason Mikkelborg of Port age served in combat with the US Army during Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2 003-2005. His Military Occupational Specialty was 51M Crash Rescue Firefigh ter\, assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division.\n\nLundgren will share his ex perience from 9/11\, when US airspace was abruptly closed\, all planes were grounded\, and there was confusion among officials\, as well as panic amon g some travelers.\n\nMikkelborg will discuss his role serving from Forward Operating Base Ridgeway in the deadly “Sunni Triangle”. He was a Crew C hief\, operating a tanker vehicle shuttling water to support team missions\ , as well as supporting search and rescue of downed aircraft.\n\nAfter Lund gren’s and Mikkelborg’s presentations\, there will be an opportunity fo r attendees to share their 9/11 experiences. \n\nLundgren is a graduate of Central Michigan University\, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology\ , Psychology and Conservation. Dan started work with USDA in 1988 in the Bi ological Control Lab in Niles Michigan. In 1990\, Dan transferred to the De troit Metropolitan area to work as a USDA Quarantine Officer inspecting int ernational travelers\, and cargo for international exotic insects\, invasiv e plant pests and diseases.\n \nWith the creation of the Department of Home land Security (DHS)\, he joined U.S. Customs and Border Protection working at all Michigan Ports of Entry (Detroit Metropolitan Airport\, land borders \, and marine terminals). In addition to inspecting travelers\, and regulat ing international cargo for pests and diseases\, DHS looks for illicit trad e and importation of regulated biologicals to prevent the introduction of i nfectious human diseases. \n \nLundgren’s career spanned 32 years workin g throughout Michigan and in Washington\, DC\, with the CBP Agriculture Bio terrorism Division. Dan retired from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CB P) as an Agriculture Specialist and moved to the Kalamazoo area in 2022.\n\ nMikkelborg served in the Army 1998 to 2005\, with the rank of E4 Specialis t. After 9/11 he was stationed at Forward Operating Base Ridgeway\, situate d between Fallujah and Ramadi in the Al Anbar Province\, Iraq. This area is known as the Sunni Triangle\, and had some of the world's deadliest roads\ , with improvised xplosive devices (IEDs) claiming the lives of many GIs an d civilians.\n\nIn his spare time\, Mikkelborg welded steel plates to vehic les to help shield them from IEDs. He’s grateful that military and govern ment leaders recognized the need for added protection and sent plate steel. \n\nHe was deployed “In Country” for 15 months\, which turned into a 2- year deployment with pre-mobilization\, In Country ops\, and post-mobilizat ion. \n\nJoin us Friday at 9 am for an informative meeting. Coffee and donu ts provided.\n

Contact:

\n\nLocation: KGOP Office - 5 250 Lovers Lane\, Suite LL110\, Portage\, MI 49002\n\nContact: events@kgop. us\nPhone: 269-323-0067\n\nCheck-in: https://crm.kgop.us/event-checkin.php? event_id=217 LOCATION:KGOP Office - 5250 Lovers Lane\, Suite LL110\, Portage\, MI 49002 URL:https://crm.kgop.us/event-checkin.php?event_id=217 STATUS:CONFIRMED SEQUENCE:0 ORGANIZER;CN=KGOP:mailto:events@kgop.us CATEGORIES:Republican,Politics,KGOP BEGIN:VALARM TRIGGER:-P1D DESCRIPTION:Reminder: We Remember 9/11 ACTION:DISPLAY END:VALARM END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR