Streeterville resident Walt Paas is one of the many heroes who walk among us each and every day.

Walt is a World War II veteran, a Seaman 2nd Class in the U.S. Naval Armed Guards who spent his tours of duty in the Pacific Ocean aboard the U.S. Army transport William L. Thompson, and the SS William F. Empey, an American merchant ship.

In other words, just like the troops of any war, Walt put his life on the line so that we could have the freedom we all so enjoy, yet probably take a little for granted.

Tomorrow, Nov. 11, is Veterans Day, and I wanted to salute Walt — an old sailor who takes the time to shoot me an email here and there with much-appreciated column comments — and all the other vets out there. I asked Walt, who turns 88 in January, his thoughts on this Veterans Day,

“Veterans of all wars, from WWII to present conflicts, who were lucky enough to survive, will be remembering those who didn’t in nationwide ceremonies this Veterans Day,” said Walt, who has been married to his sweetheart, Dot, since 1948. “Those who were never in any of our armed forces should remember to thank us for our service.”

Walt is one of the approximately 1.7 million WWII vets still remaining of the 16 million who served America during that war, according to the National World War II Museum’s Web site. What’s very cool is that his wartime letters, the Paas Papers, are on file at the J.Y. Joyner Library at East Carolina University.

Correspondence in the collection consists of letters from Walt — who was in the Navy and Merchant Marine — to both his mom and Dot between 1943 and 1945. According to the online abstracts, references are made to signaling and semaphore operations, airship food and activities aboard ship and in ports, leisure activities such as swimming in Pacific lagoons, problems with mail delivery, observations on women in port towns, unwillingness to marry in wartime and air raids. Oh yeah, drinking beer — including Pabst Blue Ribbon — is also mentioned a few times in the letters too.

Walt said we should all keep in mind that these days, times are especially tough for veterans. He said the “greatest generation” — his — is getting smaller, and that in WWII troops either died or came back whole but that’s no longer the case.

“Now, thanks to advances in medicine and airlift capability, they are coming back less arms, legs, or all of the above,” he said. “The VA hospitals still can’t take care of our wounded in a timely fashion.

“There are too many homeless veterans, they come back from harm’s way and can’t get a job,” said Walt. “America must do better for our veterans.”

Banking on our vets… On Veterans Day, Fifth Third Bank will host Honoring Those Who Serve at Union Station, where bank employees will assemble 530 care packages for area troops in Afghanistan. There’ll also be a spot for the public to write notes to local vets and troops overseas. The day will culminate with a 2 p.m. rally.

Fifth Third is also collecting donations for educational scholarships for families of local soldiers wounded or killed in action and will match total donations up to $50,000. “We are united by this and want to honor those who serve in our military,” said Ryan Walsh, manager, Fifth Third Bank in Streeterville. For more info, visit www.53vets.com.

Sincerest condolences… to Lake View resident Stella Black on the sudden and heartbreaking loss of her beloved son, Kevin, last week. My thoughts are with Stella and her family.