Hannah Baleme/MDN Tech. Sgt. Thomas Wikoff, left, presents the military service coin to World War II veteran Ed Zilli at the Parker Center in Minot.

Tech. Sgt. Thomas Wikoff, a hospice volunteer for CaringEdge, presented World War II veteran Ed Zilli with the military service coin at the Parker Center in Minot Thursday.

Military service coins are presented, traded and collected amongst unit members in appreciation of their service. Each piece bears unique symbols identifying the group they represent.

The coin is provided through the “We Honor Veterans” program.

The program partners with hospices to honor patients who are veterans.

Wikoff began his work as a hospice volunteer for CaringEdge in June. CaringEdge provides hospice care to individuals in their homes.

Wikoff interacts with Minot’s veterans, gets to know them and helps them with whatever they need.

“Getting to hear all their stories is one of my favorite parts of volunteering,” said Wikoff.

“I don’t do much compared to the rest of the faculty but mainly, I keep the patients company and do whatever it is they want to do with them, whether it’s playing cards or swapping stories with them, I’m down to do it,” he said.

Wikoff has served in the Air Force for 12 years. He has been at Minot Air Force Base for one year. Before coming here, he performed volunteer work with the medical group on his previous base in Okinawa, Japan.

“We experienced a lot of different situations. I usually helped out with the medevac (medical evacuation) squadrons, but we did not have any hospices at my last base because it was in Okinawa. If I wanted to do hospice there, I would have had to learn Japanese,” said Wikoff.

Wikoff said it was an honor and a privilege to honor World War II veteran Ed Zilli. “I hope I can visit him some more in the future. It was such an honor giving this coin to him,” said Wikoff.