Honor veterans by stepping up as a speaker

  • Published
  • By William Neitzke
  • Director of Safety 88th Air Base Wing
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Oh. --  I know it's still a couple of months until we celebrate Veterans Day but how I spent my last Veterans Day on active duty with the Air Force is worth sharing now.

I've spent Veterans Day in many places. As a child, I was often at the local parade with my family. I've been to ceremonies while deployed, including one in Iraq. Others have been at home station.

Last year about this time, I volunteered through the Public Affairs office's speakers' program to participate in a local community ceremony. A list of organizations requesting representatives from the base was provided, and I chose a ceremony at the VFW near my house. Unfortunately, a couple of days later I was informed an Army colonel had also volunteered to speak at the event and because the membership of that particular VFW was primarily Army veterans they preferred the Army colonel.

At this point the PA officer recommended a retirement community about an hour's drive from where I lived. She said this group had made multiple requests for a speaker from the Air Force base but had never gotten one because of the distance. She also explained PA receives many more requests for speakers than they had volunteers to send. I accepted the new engagement and prepared a short speech for the veterans.

On Veterans Day, I put on my service dress and drove with my wife the hour to the ceremony. The event's host met us in the community center's lobby and took me to an auditorium and explained turnout would probably be low this year. He was expecting only 300 to 500 veterans and family members. My event worksheet said the audience would be "a few."

The event was great. It included opening remarks from the presiding official, a description of the history of Veterans Day, the reading of names of those who had passed away since last year's ceremony, a poem written by one of the members to commemorate the day, opening and closing respects to the flag and also my speech.

I talked about Veterans Day traditions. I told stories from my time in service, veterans I knew who had been my mentors, sacrifices of this generation's veterans and their families. I relayed stories of day-to-day operations down range and about friends killed in combat. I explained how what we did today was not much different than their experiences, how we all appreciated their service and the sacrifices their families made. In the end, I guess my speech was OK.

The most important part of the day was the reception after, not on the plan provided me. At the close of the ceremony, the several hundred veterans ushered us into the ballroom, which was set up with white table cloths and chairs.

At 10 a.m. we had wine and cheese. The host explained wine was not allowed at ceremonies in the retirement community, but he didn't care because it was Veterans Day and most of them probably wouldn't have too many more to celebrate.

This was where the best part of the event happened. Everyone wanted to talk with us. They all had a story they wanted to tell. I met Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines from our greatest generation. There was a former prisoner of war who had been in the same compound as Hub Zemke. Another table had Battle of the Bulge veterans. Another had veterans who had served under the command of General Patton. Further down the line were five women who had been Marines in World War II. The list just went on and on.

Everywhere I turned there was another bit of living history before me. They all wanted to share stories about themselves, a loved one or a buddy from their time in the military. They all thanked me for my service and I thanked them. I could have stayed and listened to them all afternoon, but at 11 a.m. the host stood and said it was time to be done. Apparently Apple-bee's was offering free lunch for veterans and the bus was about to leave. The room cleared out quickly, and I went back to the car with my wife for the hour trip home.

During the drive I thought about many things. First, I thought I'd made a mistake by following PA's advice and removing one of my opening jokes because it could be considered "offensive." Based on the stories I heard, no one would have batted an eye at my joke. I was also happy -- glad I had been afforded, and accepted, the opportunity to speak at their ceremony and interact with those heroes on Veterans Day. I was also sad - sad because this group had asked for speakers many times and one had not been available, sad because I knew the list of groups looking for a speaker was much longer than the list of volunteers and the PA had to say no to so many of them.

So, why do I write about Veterans Day approximately two months before we celebrate it? I do it to encourage everyone to be involved. Think about what you are going to do for Veterans Day, Memorial Day and all the other times we celebrate the service of others. There are plenty of opportunities to help. Speaking is great, and I encourage you to do so. However, not everyone is comfortable in front of crowds. There are plenty of other opportunities to help. I encourage each of you, with two months lead time, to consider how you, too, might best commemorate Veterans Day.