I am not a veteran, but that does not mean that I lack an appreciation for the sacrifices that so many of our fellow countrymen have made over the years while serving in our armed forces. There is a story behind the fact that I am not a veteran, but it is not one which should be told on this particular day. The focus of this day should be on our veterans and the respect due them for having served our country in whatever time or conditions they found themselves during their period of service.
Not all military service is equal in risk in the sense that some veterans have served during times of peace and some have served in times of war; but all of the service is equal in the sense that each soldier, sailor, airman, marine or coast guardsman engaged in his or her service solely for the benefit of the the many civilians of our nation. As Americans, we are privileged to live in a country where the branches of our armed services exist only for the benefit of the collective whole, and not for their individual profit or for the exercise of political power. Not all nations enjoy such a luxury.
Those Americans, like me, who have not served in our armed forces have, over our lives, benefitted from our veterans’ service; service that, whether in time of peace or war, required some form of sacrifice. Their sacrifices range from the mundane (a reduced income during military service compared to what might have been earned in civilian life, or living in exceptionally cramped quarters in a submarine or surface vessel) to something as extraordinary as the giving of a life, the loss of a limb, or the suffering of mental instability arising from the horrific conditions of war.
All of our service men and women live with the idea that the very act of their service demands that they will place themselves in harm’s way if the need requires. They enter into service with this knowledge, knowing full well that the final decision as to whether they will engage in combat is not theirs but that of a superior. They train hard to be prepared for the worst of situations, never knowing when and where those situations may arise and always trusting to the judgment of others as to what the national will or need may require of them. In this regard, it doesn’t really matter whether their service originated by governmental draft or by voluntary enlistment – in either case, they served for the benefit of all of the rest of us who so significantly outnumber their ranks.
Yesterday, the day before Veteran’s Day, I watched the televised proceedings at Fort Hood honoring the 13 who died last Thursday at the hands of an assassin. Their loss is unusual because of the manner and location of its occurrence. These were volunteers, most of whom faced future service under fire, many of whom had already served under fire, and all must have had no thought that they might come in harm’s way on an early November day in Texas while engaging in routine daily events on their home post. Their loss makes this Veteran’s Day all the more poignant since it demonstrates that harm’s way may be found at any time and at home as well as abroad.
I am not a veteran, but my partner is. My partner served with distinction in World War II in many locations, but most notably in the small town of Mortain, France. One sunny day in early August when he thought he and his fellow troops were going to enjoy a few days of respite behind the front lines after weeks of fierce fighting from hedgerow to hedgrow in Normandy, he awoke to find his hill – Hill 314 just outside of Mortain – surrounded by a German panzer division as the Germans counterattacked in an attempt to break the Allied invasion. For the next 6 days and nights, he called in artillery fire on the hill’s very edges to keep the German’s at bay, using the only working radio the troops on the hill possessed. He was not the only hero on that hill during those 6 days and he would be the very first to say so. But he did the job he was trained to do as best he could, and his efforts were very effective. He won the Silver Star for his efforts at Mortain and wears it proudly to this day when the occasion demands.
My partner’s training and determination saw him through the seige at Mortain while many of his comrades were dying on that very same hill. He cannot forget those days in August, and as each subsequent August occurs those long ago days are mentally relived with prayers said anew for those that fell. He has even come to write about his experiences after the many years of not being able to speak about them, and, in doing so, has enabled those of us who have never served to have some idea of what true sacrifice can be.
Two years ago, my partner was awarded France’s highest honor – the Legion of Honor – at a ceremony in Portland, Oregon and I was privileged to attend and hear the remarks of the French Counsel thanking him for his service to France. I cannot award him a beautiful medal in thanking him – and so many others – for their service to this country, but I can and do extend my personal thanks in gratitude for the freedoms I enjoy. It is the grand tradition of the American civilian soldier that has protected these liberties. Each of these current soldiers or veterans, in whatever their guise or branch of service, carries or carried our freedoms in their kits during their time of service, so that the many civilians of this nation could enjoy those freedoms to the utmost. While all of us, soldier and civilian alike, bear some responsiblity for the protection of our freedoms, our soldiers and veterans have always been the heaviest lifters as the front line of freedom’s defense.
So, let this be my personal thank you to my long time partner, friend and mentor, Robert L. Weiss. Let it also be my thanks to the many other current and former civilian soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coast guardsmen – whether I have had the privilege of meeting them or not. If I do not know them in person, I now understand, thanks to Bob’s writings, who they are in spirit. For that spirit, I salute them.
Original content here is published under these license terms: | X | |
License Type: | Non-commercial, Attribution, no Derivative work | |
License Abstract: | You may copy this content, and re-publish it in unmodified form for non-commercial purposes, provided you include an overt attribution to the author(s). You are not permitted to create derivative works. | |
License URL: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ |