Yesterday, while waiting to be seen by my eye surgeon, I sat beside an elderly man who was in the process of permanently losing his eyesight. He shared with me how his vision had failed.
During the Vietnam War, this gentleman had been assigned to an Intelligence Unit and trained to be a map reader. For ten hours a day, he pored over maps of the terrain where American soldiers would be engaged in battle. Two years after the war ended, his vision began to fail. The doctors told him that vision failure was due to the intense eye strain of squinting at maps for so many long hours each day. Do you know what? This man told me that he had no regrets. These are his words, “If I hadn’t done my job well, young Americans would have died.”
Men like this are our veterans—men and women willing to serve their country to protect Americans like you and me.
On my dad’s 17th birthday, he convinced his mother to sign consent papers that allowed him to enlist in the Army Air Corps. At seventeen years old, he left his home and traveled to Germany. There, in Germany, he had his first encounter with death in the European theater. He came home, but he came home a changed man. His experiences in Europe shaped the man he would become.
In 1973, my father-in-law passed away from cancer. That cancer had grown in an old wound site where he had been shot through the lung during the storming of Normandy. His memories of the storming of Normandy were so horrific that he refused to share them with anyone.
My oldest brother missed the draft by a few numbers. I remember the palpable anxiety as we waited to hear whether his number would be called up. No, he didn’t go to war, but he watched his friends go, and then he watched them come home changed and to a country that didn’t honor their service and sacrifice.
For 29 years, my husband Steve served in the United States Navy. First, as an active duty officer and then a reservist, he flew P3 Orions and guarded our nation’s territories against enemy attack. The boy I met in college matured into a man as he carried the burden of protecting our country. His hours of operational missions forever changed his outlook on America and protecting her hard-won freedoms.
Our family legacy of service continued with my daughter Molly. At a tiny 103lbs., Steve and I watched as our little girl swore to protect her country from foreign and domestic enemies. Molly has always been our most patriotic child, and regardless of his other titles, she always introduced her father as Commander Scheibner.
On the day she finished basic training, I watched her share her first salute with her father, and I wept.
On September 11, 2001, when the towers began to fall, and we began to understand what hatred for America looked like in real time, my first thought was for my dad. He passed away the summer before the attacks, and to be honest, at that moment, I was glad he wasn’t still alive to witness what was happening to his beloved country. I don’t think his heart could have survived the sorrow.
Yes, our family truly is a military family. However, we don’t just love the military because it has been such an interwoven part of our family history. We love it because of what it stands for and because of the men and women who stand between us and destruction. Men and women who run toward danger, not away from it!
Please, let me be clear. Our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines don’t join the military for the perks of traveling overseas. They certainly don’t do it for the pay or vacation days! No, these committed members of the military, both active and retired, joined the service because old-fashioned character qualities like honor, courage, sacrifice, and commitment were important to them. They didn’t only believe in these character qualities; they were willing to leave home, suffer hardships, and even die for those principles.
So, this Veterans Day, may I encourage you? Actually, may I implore you? Get involved, and involve your children, too. Find practical and meaningful ways to thank a veteran. Then, go another step further. Slow down and ask them questions. Allow them to share their stories with you. The World War 2 generation is almost gone, but there are veterans from Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, and the ongoing struggle in the Middle East who deserve the opportunity to share their hearts with us. They deserve to be heard.
As we purposefully remember our country’s veterans and their dedication to protecting our freedoms, today’s service members will be encouraged that their sacrifice and service are also important to us. Our present service members will be strengthened to remain strong, steadfast, and singleminded as we honor our veteran’s dedication to honor, courage, and commitment.
Then, our veterans will be truly honored on their special day… Veteran’s Day.
Megan Scheibner 