Editor’s note: Today’s Veterans Day ceremony in Dover was cancelled due to weather expected from Tropical Storm Nicole. Dave Skocik shares the thought he would have offered at the event.
On Veterans Day, we recognize the men and women who have served our state and nation with courage, integrity and valor. They deserve thanks not only one day a year but every day.
Over a period of four decades, I had the privilege of serving with three generations in three branches of veterans, from Vietnam in 1966 through my retirement from the Navy Reserve in 2007. After serving 11 years in the Air Force, I took a 21-year break in service before coming aboard the Army National Guard in 1998, later switching to the Navy Reserve in 2002.
Some of my most memorable experiences were working with battle-injured Marines at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Their injuries included amputations, gunshot and shrapnel wounds, burns and blindness. Their primary concern wasn’t their life-changing injuries but guilt over “leaving my Marines behind.”
Ten years later, in 2013, then-Lt. Gov. Matt Denn asked if someone from our Kent County Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 850 could pick up three soldiers flying into Philly to be honored guests at Gov. Jack Markell’s second inauguration. Mr. Denn had been reading “The Outpost,” a bestselling book by CNN’s Jake Tapper that documented the October 2009 heroic actions of a small number of 10th Mountain Division soldiers in the remote Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan.
They held off several hundred Taliban fighters trying to overrun their camp during a several-day siege. Eight soldiers were killed, with two dozen wounded. The heroism of two soldiers resulted in their later award of the Medal of Honor.
Tapper noted his book was written to help readers “better understand what it is that our troops go through, why they go through it, and what their experience has been like in Afghanistan.”
Chapter president Joe Startt Jr. and I drove to Philly and delivered them to the DoubleTree Hotel in Wilmington, with instructions to have dinner with them, courtesy of the state.
We fell into easy conversation and shoptalk with their leader, a master sergeant in his late 30s, and the others in their mid-20s. With Joe and I in our mid-60s, we represented three generations of veterans but spoke as timeless colleagues in the context of “duty, honor, country.”
We returned the following morning to escort them to William Penn High School, where they addressed uniformed Junior ROTC students. Nearly all raised their hands when asked how many had family who served in the military. Later that day, Mr. Tapper joined us for a book signing and a public address at The Grand Opera House, before the soldiers were transported to Dover for the inauguration ceremony.
Since that time, countless others continue to serve on active-duty, Reserve and National Guard units on our behalf. The point of this missive is to underscore that military service and willingness to sacrifice usually runs in families over generations. Fewer than 1% of our fellow citizens are willing or able to risk their welfare and lives for us, to say nothing of ongoing family separations.
If we don’t take care of our current generation of patriots, we cannot expect these men and women to encourage their children to relieve them when their watch ends.
An update: About 15 months ago, in cooperation with the Delaware Department of Correction and in conjunction with Veterans Affairs, the Veterans Court, elected officials and others, the Delaware Veterans Coalition initiated an effort to reach out to incarcerated veterans, with the understanding their military service earned them the same benefits as their brothers and sisters beyond the walls confining them. Our goal is to educate them in preparation for their reentry into society.
The fact is, veterans in general have a great deal more education, training, discipline and camaraderie than the general inmate population. We encourage them to prepare for their release with that in mind.
Reach out and thank a veteran. Educate your children about how they guarantee our freedoms. Attend an event. Consider a contribution to the Delaware Veterans Trust Fund at delawareveteranstrustfund.com.
Dave Skocik
President, Delaware Veterans Coalition
Dover
