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Veterans Day Honors All Who Serve

photo by Cookie Steponaitis

Tuesday November 11, 2014

By Cookie Steponaitis

As the first Saturday of November dawns, the early morning light reveals a caravan of National Guard vehicles stopped at a local convenience store and service men and women filling up their cups of coffee for the day ahead. There is camaraderie amongst the group that is evident and even at this wee hour of the early morning, a cohesion and order to their movements. When thanked for their service, the group paused, smiled and took time to answer a few quick questions about Veterans Day and its personal meaning to each of them. Some of the responses you might expect, but others were of great surprise, but all were linked to a common thread of service to others.
    Two of the officers there were entering their twentieth year of service and both had seen tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. When asked if Veteran’s Day had special significance for them, the pair quickly stopped joking and both their faces and body posture shifted to one of somber thoughts. After a pause, one officer responded that he,” thought it was a time to honor those who have been lost and recognize those in service.” The second officer thought a moment and requested, “That to honor those who serve, help a family or a veteran in need at home.” The convoy completed its tasks quickly and the entire exchange lasted but five to ten brief minutes, but the comments lingered in the mind. Three members of the convoy were talking about a program they were working on to help the Wounded Warrior Project and another talked about just volunteering on a large food drive in their home town.     When asked briefly what the weekend held, one grinned and said, “sleeping outside” and another told this reporter not to pay any attention to him, but to listen to the veterans of the group.
Another Addison County serviceman, Bub Crosby, looks back on his years of service as a time where his expectations of discipline, direction and leadership were met. Serving in the US Air Force from 1968-1972, Crosby felt fortunate with his assignment as an Automatic Flight Controls System’s technician, which gave him to opportunity to do in flight evaluation on electronics and other components. Only 5% of those who enlist in the Air Force get to fly and Crosby felt fortunate that his time included a great deal of flight. While his unit was stationed in Loring Air Force Base in Maine, before his tour ended, Crosby was involved with ground work in Okinawa, U-Tapo Thailand, and had many different temporary duty sites including the Philippines, Guam, Taiwan, Japan Hawaii and Alaska. For Crosby, Veteran’s Day is a combination of recognition and honoring, both those lost and those who serve. In honoring one, the others are honored as well.
    No matter which branch or service or whether it is those of the past or present, Veterans Day is a public recognition of people who day in and day out put nation first and serve beside comrades. On Veterans Day America pauses and reflects, but for those who wear the uniform now or did wear it in the past, Veterans Day is with them all the time and in their hearts. While for many it is hard to express verbally, one need only look in their faces to get a glimpse of a love of country, a respect of the uniform, and a commitment to those here and those who have perished in the line of duty.

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