100-year-old WWII veteran to be honored at the Freedom Awards Gala
Grant Keeler
Bun Yom
The Kims
The Holts
You’re never too old for a fancy party, and Lt. Col. H. Grant Keeler proves just that. Keeler, who turns 100 on June 21, will be honored at the 2018 Freedom Awards Gala, held at 6:30 p.m., June 30, in the Utah Valley Convention Center.
Keeler joined the Army Air Corps in 1942 and began flying a B-17 bomber when he was stationed in England. In November 1944, his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire and went down near the Holland-Germany border. Keeler and three others were captured by German troops. Their navigator was soon executed, most likely because of his Jewish heritage.
For several months, Keeler and other soldiers were imprisoned in a prisoner of war camp, moving to a second camp in Moosburg, Germany, before American troops captured the town in April 1945. He continued his service with the Air Force after being freed and later participated in the Berlin Airlift, carrying cargo to U.S. soldiers and their allies in Berlin, Germany.
Keeler served as commander of a forward air controllers unit during the Vietnam War before retiring in 1971 as a lieutenant colonel. He now lives in Layton, Utah.
The Freedom Awards Gala also honors Bun Yom and Donghyun Kim and Jiyeon Song.
Bun Yom
At 14 years old, Yom was torn from his Cambodian home by the Khmer Rouge. Forced to work as a slave laborer in the country’s killing fields, Yom was rescued three years later by the Cambodian Freedom Fighters. He soon joined them, rescuing thousands of other Cambodians. Yom later emigrated to the United States and currently lives in central Washington. He chronicled his experiences in the book “Tomorrow I’m Dead: How a 17-year-old Killing Field Survivor Became the Cambodian Freedom Army’s Greatest Soldier.”
Donghyun Kim and Jiyeon Song
Husband and wife, Kim and Song escaped separately from North Korea to South Korea in 2011 with a broker’s help at the Chinese border. Song recalls traveling by boat, bus, car, and on foot with brokers’ help from Laos to Thailand. She finally arrived in South Korea three months later. Once reunited in Seoul, Kim and Song pursued Christian religions (forbidden in North Korea) before being baptized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Kim and Song moved to Provo in 2015 and are currently expecting their first child.
Utah trio GENTRI, which includes singers Bradley Quinn Lever, Casey Elliott and Brad Robins, will perform at the gala as well.
“The Freedom Awards Gala is my favorite event of the festival,” says Dorene Nelson, Freedom Festival publicity chairman. “Every year we learn about and meet incredible people who sacrifice for, defend, and love freedom. This year will follow that wonderful pattern of incredible people who will touch our hearts.”
Tickets to the Freedom Awards Gala are $50 per person and available through June 22. To purchase tickets, visit the Freedom Festival office (4626 N 300 W, Suite 300, in Provo) or call (801) 818-1776. You must have a reservation to attend; tickets will not be available at the door.