Save Their Stories!

As a retired U.S. Army Officer, I have been deliberate in what I do in this phase of my life. Following retirement, I found employment with a major tax preparation service, and that was satisfying in many ways. Since my military retirement, I decided to find an answer to the question, "what do I do now?" Too many times while I was still in uniform, I would learn about a retiree whose last unit was my unit, but the answer to "how is he doing?" would be, "oh, he passed away." It was apparent that the guy had no plan. One day he worked full tilt; the next day, he had nothing to do except stumble through the shower, have a bowl of Wheaties, fall into an over-stuffed chair, and watch TV. There was no plan. The mind/body connection was broken. Purpose was lost. Lethargy set in. I decided to try my best to avoid that quagmire. 

There happened to be volunteer fairs being run by the community college nearby. I attended a couple of seminars and poured over a collection of leaflets encouraging volunteers to make a difference with them. The seminars consistently said two things: volunteer and travel. I decided that, while I love to travel, I wasn't able to travel incident to military orders any longer. So, I evaluated a host of volunteer organizations in West Michigan. I selected two: the Buddy 2 Buddy program started a few years earlier under a program developed by the University of Michigan and Hospice of Holland (a non-profit located in Holland, Michigan). Unfortunately, the Buddy 2 Buddy program lost funding, and after a few years, the good work done in support of veterans was closed.

The Hospice of Holland has been operational for many years. One of the things I have done is to help write the Life Review of seniors in the hospice program. At this point, I have helped about 12 seniors record the highlights of their lives. One veteran was a World War II fighter pilot. He still had his leather flight jacket with a silk liner, where a request was written in several languages. The idea was that if the pilot was shot down in enemy territory, the message said, "I am an American serviceman. Please help me rejoin American forces," could be shown to the locals to gain their help. This veteran had recorded his military story from WWII as part of the Kalamazoo Air Museum program. I was privileged to hear his recorded story. The Museum still has his recollections in its archives. 

What this fighter pilot wanted now that he was a patient in Hospice of Holland was to record the rest of his story for his family. He had things to say to his children and his grandchildren. It was an honor for me to interview him and publish his Life Review, which included some pictures of him, his wife, his parents, and his family. The family members each received a copy of what had been on his mind and was now on paper. I am sure the family treasures that as much as the recording of his military exploits while in the Army Air Corps.

Another World War II veteran, a U. S. Navy sailor, allowed me the opportunity to write his story. He was very reluctant to share his story. It took a period of time to overcome his reluctance. It turned out that he said he had been drafted near the end of the war and was not in combat. He had served for something like two years and was in logistics support of the installation where he was assigned. His second reason for being reluctant was that one of his sons was a Vice President of a major bank, and he was adamant about bringing any form of discredit to his son, as he had a very prominent position in many communities. The opportunity to meet his two sons in person was the catalyst to getting their support to allow me to help him get his story posted on TWS (Navy). It was a wonderful experience to interview him and to let him know that his service at a difficult time for our nation was appreciated and mattered.

I fondly recall both of these World War II veterans and am so grateful to both of them for their contributions to our democracy.

Now I am Adjutant for a large Post of The American Legion here in West Michigan. The position puts me in touch with each of our members (about 350) at least once a year. My goal is to help where I can, overcome reluctance by affirming the veteran and his/her honorable service and help them record the experience of serving in uniform. I hope that my encouragement and patience will somehow allow veterans to more willingly embrace the idea. For some veterans, I am sure there will be some emotional healing occur as they recall, to the degree that they are able and willing to share their story. I am resigned to the reality that all I can do is try.