Several years ago my old school honored me by asking me to address the students at the annual Veterans' Day program. I thought it a pretty good speech and so reprint it:
Judge Folk
Veterans
Students of Kirbyville
High School
Honored Guests
Mrs. Gore
Mrs. McClatchy
Faculty and staff
Thank you allowing me to
speak today.
There are many men and
women from Kirbyville and Jasper County whose service and devotion to duty
makes them far more fitted for the honor. But today I guess you’re stuck with
me.
Master Chief Petty Officer
Leo Stanley, who died last month, is one of those whose voice would be better
today. I wish he could be here again to share this special day with you. He was
a Navy Hospital Corpsman for forty years, earning promotion to the highest
enlisted rank there is. In his retirement one of the ways in which he continued
serving his country was by serving you, his beloved students, in your
elementary school’s reading program. Many of you remember him with great joy,
for he and Miss Mary loved helping you learn to read each Friday for many
years.
If he were here – and
perhaps he is - the Chief would talk about you and your service
to God and country, and he would expect me to do so too. And I will
I will begin with thirteen
fine young folks of your generation who were killed last summer while
serving humanity in helping refugees escape from Taliban-controlled
Afghanistan.
You have all seen the
photograph of Marine Corps Sergeant Nicole Gee cradling an infant amid the
chaos at the airport in Kabul when everything fell apart. The picture is not a government propaganda
photograph; if it were it would be of better quality. This is just a snapshot one
of her fellow Marines forwarded to her. She
sent it by email to her parents with the words, “I love my job!”
“I love my job.”
Those may have been the
last words this United States Marine - with her hair tied back in a ponytail -
said to her mom and dad.
On the 26th of
August Sergeant Gee and the others who were killed with her almost surely did
not think of themselves as great Americans; they were too busy BEING great
Americans.
They would have thought of
themselves – 11 Marines, one soldier, and one Navy Hospital Corpsmen, just like
your mentor Chief Stanley - as only doing their jobs in the heat and dust and violence
of Afghanistan, helping civilians escape being murdered by the Taliban.
That’s what YOU would do.
Don’t let anyone dismiss your generation with cheap and shabby stereotypes. YOU
would carry a baby amid the screams and terror and dust and heat to a waiting
airplane and then return to the perimeter for another child or young mother or
old man or anyone who needed your help.
That’s what these thirteen
young people did, and they were young, like you.
You could have even been
on the same school bus run:
The oldest by far was Marine
Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31, of Salt Lake City, Utah. 31 might seem old, but he was young.
Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny
Rosariopichardo, another woman Marine, 25, of Lawrence, Massachusetts
Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole
L. Gee, 23, of Sacramento, California
Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter
Lopez, 22, of Indio, California
Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan
W. Page, 23, of Omaha, Nebraska
Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto
A. Sanchez, 22, of Logansport, Indiana
Marine Corps Lance Cpl.
David L. Espinoza, 20, of Rio Bravo, Texas
Marine Corps Lance Cpl.
Jared M. Schmitz, 20, of St. Charles, Missouri
Marine Corps Lance Cpl.
Rylee J. McCollum, 20, of Jackson, Wyoming
Marine Corps Lance Cpl.
Dylan R. Merola, 20, of Rancho Cucamonga, California
Marine Corps Lance Cpl.
Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, of Norco, California
Navy Hospitalman Maxton W.
Soviak, 22, of Berlin Heights, Ohio
Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C.
Knauss, 23, of Corryton, Tennessee.
They are your generation.
They were killed in a scene of horror by a mad bomber who chose hate instead of
love. His hate killed those 13 young Americans and wounded some 30 others who
were saving lives, and killed and wounded possibly 200 or more Afghans.
One unhappy young man
chose hate. He doesn’t represent anything.
But your generation
has chosen love, the love Jesus spoke of when he said, “Greater love hath no
man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
And these young Americans
gave up their lives for people they didn’t even know.
No greater love indeed.
We have spoken of these
13, but let us remember this: every young American in Kabul that day was saving
lives – they were helping terrified people get to the airplanes, helping them
to safety.
That is also the story of
just about every American soldier, sailor, airman, Marine, or Coast Guard.
If you look at us
sometimes absurd old people, I hope you remember that we were once young like
you – maybe when dinosaurs roamed the earth – and that every veteran you see
before you gave up some of his or her own poor rations to help feed children,
gave up some of his time and sleep and effort in helping those who were hungry
or displaced.
And finally, that’s your
story too. You are going to serve humanity
in some way,
in some place,
in some time – as a
soldier, a police officer, a volunteer firefighter, a paramedic, or as a good American
civilian who stands tall when needed and helps the community in some way. You
may not be called to carry a child to safety from Kabul Airport or from a
wrecked car or from a burning building, but you will surely be called to help
feed children or teach children in Sunday School or, like Chief Stanley, help
out with the reading program.
There’s an old Army
National Guard recruiting slogan that says:
It
wasn’t always easy
It
wasn’t always fair
But
when freedom called we answered
We
were there
We and your parents know
that you will be there too.
Thank you.
