On Veterans, the Military and the Warrior Writers

If someone had told me just a few months ago that I would be attending a Veterans Recognition Breakfast, I would have thought he or she was crazy.  First of all, I am not a veteran and, in fact, until my son joined the military I actually had an aversion to all things military.  This aversion goes back to the era in which I grew up.  I was at the tail-end of the Vietnam War era – an era known for its anti-war sentiments and its popular saying that you should “Make Love, Not War.”  I have to admit that I still am a bit of a pacifist and I don’t like war – I think it should be avoided at all cost unless it is in direct defense of our country.  However, now that my son is in the military, I realize that although I may not support what some higher-ups in the U.S. Government have sent our military overseas to do, we must stand by our men and women who are fulfilling their orders as part of the oath they took to defend our country.

When I recently had the opportunity to become a part of a project called Warrior Writers Fort Wayne, I decided to take the plunge because it sounded like a worthy endeavor.  I checked out the national Web site to see what the Warrior Writers were all about, and I found it to be an outlet where individuals in the military could express themselves and comment freely on their military experience and its effect on them and their families -- good and bad.  These are young men and women who are dedicating their lives to service in the military, just like my son.  I became hooked.

My project partners, Air Force veteran Becky Roady (leader of the project) and classmate A.J. Rivera, have been collaborating with me on ways we can get military people and veterans involved in the Warrior Writers.  Becky attended a movie night on the campus of our college, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW), to become connected with IPFW students who are in the military and hopefully get them engaged.

We are looking for a place to conduct writing workshops for our project, and I decided to check out the Red Cross, which is known for its assistance to veterans and those in the military.  So, I called up the Red Cross and talked to one of the people in charge of their military and veterans programs.  It just happened that they were having a Veterans Recognition Breakfast that same weekend, and she invited me (and another one of my project partners) to attend.  It turned out that I went alone to the breakfast, and I didn’t know what to expect.

As I arrived at the Red Cross breakfast check-in table, they asked me what branch of military service I was affiliated with – they had distinct name tags for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, etc. – and I had to tell them I was not a veteran, just a guest.  “I do have a son in the military, though,” I said, trying to justify my attendance at the veterans’ breakfast, “and I’m involved in a project for veterans.”

I went in and took a seat at a nearly-empty table, not knowing anyone in the room.  As I looked around, I saw one table in the middle occupied by a group of gray-haired people, both men and women.  Some were in uniforms, but most of them were in civilian clothing.  “Must be World War II vets,” I thought to myself.  At the other end of my table were a few guys who looked to be in my age bracket, maybe a bit older, and I heard them talking about Viet Nam, so it was easy to figure out from what era they were.  Then, there were just a couple of really young people in the room, and I speculated that perhaps they were still active military personnel – maybe even a part of the conflicts in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The breakfast started with the Pledge of Allegiance and a flag-folding ceremony.  It was during this ceremony that I learned most of the gray-haired people in the room were actually Korean War-era veterans.  I started doing the math and realized that probably a lot of the World War II veterans were no longer among us.

The Korean War veterans wore white gloves while handling the U.S. flag and explained that the red stripe of the flag was for life, the white stripe for eternal life, and there were 13 stripes to signify the 13 founding colonies of the union.  The blue stars represent the 50 states of the union, and they even pointed out which star represented our home state of Indiana – the 20^th star, signifying that it was the 20^th state to join the union.  As the vets began carefully folding the flag, they explained the significance of each fold – I cannot remember now what each fold symbolized – but as a result of this ceremony, I came to appreciate the flag and what it represents to those who have defended it.  After the flag was completely folded up and tucked in to form a triangle shape, it was presented to the Red Cross for its display.

The Red Cross, in turn, presented an award to one of the Korean War veterans in recognition of his volunteer service to the organization.

At the end of the breakfast, I was given the opportunity to stand up and briefly tell about our Warrior Writers project and to encourage the veterans to participate.  As a result, four veterans expressed an interest in submitting their writings to the project.  One of them was a 98-year-old woman named Virginia who said she had some good poems she had written about her military service during World War II.  I was honored by her presence and excited about her interest in being a Warrior Writer.

I look forward to reading the submissions of all of our Warrior Writers from Fort Wayne and am proud to be a part of the project.  While I may not appreciate or approve of war unless it is in direct defense of our country, I can surely appreciate the stories and reflections of those who have served and cannot wait to share them with the world!