Veterans are honored at Illinois diner with 'good food and good service'

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Retired Marine Lynn Lowder's Chicago eatery pays homage to America's heroes: 'Good food and good service'

'Fox & Friends' brings in 'Rosie's Home Cookin' owner and Purple Heart recipient Lynn Lowder to hear about how his business pays tribute to veterans.

A retired Marine-turned-restaurateur is paying homage to veterans with his restaurant Rosie's Home Cookin'.

The restaurant, which opened in July, is named after the character Rosie the Riveter, said owner Lynn Lowder.

Speaking on "Fox & Friends" on Thursday, Dec. 29, Lowder — a retired Marine who received a Purple Heart during his service in the Vietnam War — said he is a "small-town guy and always will be." 

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These small-town roots, he said, were one of the driving forces behind opening the diner. 

"Veterans are certainly not anonymous in small towns," he said. "You would go into your local diner, you would talk to people … have a good meal, and go about your day."

Rosie's Home Cookin', located in Naperville, Illinois, is owned by Lynn Lowder, a retired Marine who served in Vietnam.  (Fox News)

Opening a diner in Naperville, Illinois — a city about 45 minutes outside Chicago — was a "very, very good fit," explained Lowder. 

"We have a lot of veterans and townspeople coming in," he added. 

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The diner, he said, is "a way to celebrate things that, I think, have made this country great: certainly, our first responders, Rosies — we have a ‘Missing Man’ table."  

Lowder said that opening Rosie's Home Cookin' has made him the happiest he has been since before he joined the Marines. 

Veterans receive a discount at Rosie's Home Cookin', a diner modeled in part on the small-town diners of Lowder's past.  (Fox News)

Veterans, said Lowder, are "people of their word and people of action." 

"We know that, historically, in the nine years following World War II, 49.7% of our veterans ended up being in business for themselves," he said.

Lowder founded a nonprofit called the Veteran Business Project. He said it helps "veterans find their lane in life." 

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"Many of them do that, in getting into a business for themselves," he said. 

Veterans, said Lowder, are "people of their word and people of action." 

As a way to further honor veterans, the restaurants offers a discount at Rosie's Home Cookin'. 

At Rosie's Home Cookin', said Lowder, "we want to have good food and good service." 

Lowder said veterans returning from war often work better as "the captain of their own rowboat" rather than working for someone else.  (Fox News)

"That's really the essence of it." 

Lowder reflected on how society's attitudes toward veterans have changed since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. 

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"The way you dishonor a warrior is you deny them the dignity of their experience," he said.

The post-Vietnam War era was "probably the low point of our country in that regard. We don't ever want to go there again." 

Rosie's Home Cookin' opened its doors in Naperville back in July 2022.  (Fox News)

When veterans return, "they're trying to figure out, number one, ‘Who am I now?’ and number two, ‘What’s my lane in life going to be?'" 

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Lowder said his experience working with veterans as they return from war has taught him many things. 

He said he believes "many of our veterans are far better off being the captain of their own rowboat, so to speak, as opposed to trying to fit into a large corporate setting." 

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The veterans of today have all the same things as the post-World War II veterans did, said Lowder, "and they were highly successful around the country in businesses of their own." 

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"We need to do that again," he said.