Veteran’s Day A Personal Viewpoint

- Scott W. Winchell; SVP, Gerard Group International, Inc. Every year we set aside two days out of our busy schedules to honor our members of the military and the civilians who helped them in service to our country. Many of them have made the ultimate sacrifice.

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Today, Veteran's Day, formerly Armistice Day, and Memorial Day are dedicated to these fine individuals and the institutions they represent. However, on this Veterans Day, we do so while fighting two wars, and conducting military operations in numerous places around the globe in the "War on Terror." It is a precarious time in which we live. Most of us are detached from the battles overseas, except for the sound bites and videos we are shown by the media. Many of us know someone stationed overseas or here at home, dressed in uniform, ready to defend our freedoms. Many also know of a local family who has lost a loved one in action, and most of us have read about a local soldier who was killed or maimed in the line of duty. Despite our misgivings or ardent support for these actions, it is the soldier, first and foremost, who weighs on our hearts and minds today. It is these hearty and courageous men and women who deserve our admiration and respect. We hear about the plight of the families of these fine people, the military wife, struggling with small children and trying to make ends meet while Dad is in Iraq. Or the difficulties our veterans face returning home, trying to get back to a level of normalcy that so few are ever able to achieve again. The trauma of their experiences, their injuries, and their feelings of deep loss for their brothers and sisters who did not come home has changed them forever. It is only now that many veterans can even speak of their experiences in Korea or WWII or Viet Nam. Growing up in Connecticut, as a young child, I was unaware of the involvement my own family had experienced in battles because no one spoke of them. I saw the medals two of my uncles and my Dad had earned mounted on the walls of dens and cottages, yet I knew so little of what it meant. Today, 40 plus years later, I am thankful I can still greet one of my uncles with a hug and great conversation about his experiences. It was only in the last fifteen years that he and my other uncle, along with my father, both now deceased, that I learned of heroism I can only now begin to grasp and understand more clearly. My Uncle Harold served in WWII in the 101st Airborne Division and was inside a glider, laden with supplies, weapons and ammunition, destination: Normandy, D-Day minus one. Over the next year, he was wounded three times, fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was literally standing alongside then Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe when the later uttered the now famous word: "nuts" in response to German demands for their surrender. My father was a Sergeant in the Marine Corps and my other uncle fought in Korea. They both earned Purple Hearts for the injuries they suffered in the line of duty. My Uncle Jack received further recognition for his valor at the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir in November and December of 1950. As a Navy Medic, he was assigned to the 1st Marine Division and was witness to what can only be described as the sheer, indescribable horror of war. Retreating from the far North of Korea, chased by over 120,000 Chinese and North Korean armed forces, he was one of the few who attended to the wounded, the frozen and the dying. Seeing this kind of action molded the remainder of his life. In his waning years, he revisited the difficult past with his comrades, the "Chosin Few" or the "Frozen Chosin" as they were called, when they reunited and waded through their memories together. Seeing his grief and tears so many years after the war, it really made me think about what it must have been like. The abject horror of taping up the wounded, taking care of dismembered body parts, seeing soldiers' toes and fingers black with frost bite, and watching as young men died in their arms. I can only imagine how he kept it together all those years before his death. Gerard Group International was founded in 1983 and quickly achieved a reputation for excellence for our innovative approach to problem solving in a time of rapid technological change. We are best known for integrating relevant and often critical intelligence into programs that provide real and lasting solutions to the immediate and long-range concerns of our diverse client base. Today, families are once again involved in foreign wars. Now, it is the children of that generation who fight in foreign wars, such as my cousin, a lifelong reservist from Alaska, who served in Afghanistan. And it is also their grandchildren and great-grandchildren that fight for our way of life, our freedoms, and our liberty. I have seen two nephews, my sister's son and son-in-law; go off to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. My sister's son-in-law, serving in his fourth tour of duty as a Captain in "The Big Red One" is once again on the front lines in Afghanistan. He carries on a legacy that places me in awe as I know what he faced in Fallujah and Baghdad. He has two lovely daughters and a wonderful wife here at home, and we pray every day for his safe return. These men in my family represent just a small number of the sacrifices that those who were drafted or volunteered faced at home and abroad. I pray that my family members now will not face the same hardships their predecessors faced later in life, retracing their memories on Veteran's Days twenty-five years from now. As my sons come of age, I also wonder what the prospects for them will be in future wars. Will their lives be entangled by our enemies as they grow stronger and bolder? Will it be a battle overseas or will they have to fight in our own city streets and backyards? I pray it will not be so, but I am not that optimistic as I see the gathering storm loom on the horizon. Yesterday was the 233rd anniversary of the creation of the United States Marine Corps, and today is also the 90th anniversary of the end of WWI. It has been 33 years since the end of the Viet Nam War, and 55 years since the Korea War ended. A flood of memories rise to the surface as Americans ponders the past. It has been exactly one week since America elected the first African-American to the Presidency, 143 years after the Civil War ended. The "Great Emancipator" Abraham Lincoln would be proud. I just hope Mr. Obama will be just as noteworthy for holding our nation together in a time of great global threat to our 232 year old nation. During this tenuous time between administrations, threats loom large. Al-Qaeda is ratcheting up its rhetoric for action, Iran is building nuclear capabilities, Hamas is lobbing rockets into Israel from Gaza, Hezbollah is in control of Lebanon, Russia is still in Georgian territories, terrorists conduct piracy at sea, Pakistan is in turmoil, the Taliban are becoming bolder in Afghanistan and the wilds of Pakistan, and chatter about the use of a nuclear EMP device here in the USA is rising. This vast sea of uncertainty should prompt us all to honor our veterans at home and abroad, as they are our shield and sword, and our future depends on their valor and strength . Friends, colleagues, and family; please take the time today to remember our fallen and injured, their loved ones and families as well. It is my feeling that we need to come together to honor these Americans, regardless of the political beliefs that have separated us over recent months. Today we honor the true heroes! Scott W. Winchell is a frequent contributor to Intel Analysis and is the SVP of Gerard Group International, Inc.

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