As a nation, America celebrates Veterans Day every Nov. 11. But, when was the last time that you sat down and took time to talk to a veteran? To hear their experiences?
According to an article published in Pew Research on Nov. 8, 2023, there are more than 18 million living veterans. But, how many veterans do you know? Or vice versa, how many know you?
WSHS Student Council along with Lauren Sefton, science teacher and co-advisor, hosted the annual Veterans Dinner on Oct. 29, an event where members of the Westerville South community and veterans come together to have a meal and talk about their experiences.
“It is a chance for veterans in the community to come together with our students, sit down and share a meal, share stories, just kind of get to know our students a little bit better…” Sefton continued.
Evening highlights included the beginning processon with the pledge of allegiance, POW-MIA honorary table and, of course, the food. The ceremony opened with a procession of four veterans marching into the commons and posting the colors of the United States flag and the POW-MIA flag.
After that, a liaison from the Veterans of Foreign Wars, named Gary Swank gave a foreword opening the dinner, a prayer was had, and the invitees were served a meal.
At the end of the dinner, another speech was given by an American Legion Representative, Kim Mann. They talked about the Buckeyes Girls and Boys State program, and the Honor Flight Network, which gives people 16 and older the opportunity to fly out with veterans to Washington D.C. to see the memorial to their war.
During the dinner, Swank, retired Navy Supply Officer from 1971-1975, shared about his experience. “The things I liked the best [about the military] was seeing a lot of different cities, places, ports, Hong Kong, Singapore, uh, Japan, Taiwan, Okinawa, the Philippines, all these different places that I probably would’ve never seen [otherwise]” he said.
William Golden enlisted in the Navy in 1967, got on the same ship as Swank from 1980 to 1981, named the U.S.S Blue Ridge, and retired in 1995. He also shared a memorable moment from his service.
“I looked over, and I saw this… helicopter hovering right off in front of the ready-alert fighter, and on an aircraft carrier, you always have an aircraft, ready to take off, for emergencies […] and that pilot was actually sitting in there, ready to go, and the helicopter was just hovering right in front of him […] I looked at its tail, and there was a red star, so that was a Russian helicopter… strutting its feathers, basically,” Golden said.
Daria Lesmeries, student council president, said, “…hearing about [veterans] experiences and past is really interesting and important.” Like Sefton, she emphasized the importance of the event as a way “to bridge the gap we have right now between the generations”
In edition to our article, The Scribe collected stories from Westerville South teachers Tyler Rutledge and Adam Metzger.
“[Rutledge was] probably like, 4 or 5 weeks into basic, and, we had gotten used to our normal morning wake-up routine […] and we were getting ready for a PFT test that day, a PFT-physical fitness test, so we had to get up extra early and so we’re all getting ready and this dude looks over and sees someone with their blanket over their head, in their bunk still sleeping […] and one of them goes and shakes the guy. Our Drill Sergeant throws the blanket up, jumps up, and just starts screaming nonstop at this dude, going, just, utter ballistic, and like you could just see the soul leaving this kids face…” said Rutledge.
He was in the Army from 2007 to 2011, and was stationed in Columbus at Fort Hayes, when it was still an active military post.
“I was stationed at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado […] One of the things we got to do is, the air force academy is out there, Colorado Springs, and they do their basic training, they need med coverage so we got to do med coverage for them, we did a lot of volunteer work in the Colorado Spring community, like Habitat for Humanity […] providing medical coverage for 5K’s, Ironmans, that kind of stuff […] I got to do a lot of things, I got to see a lot of things…” said Metzgar
He was in the Air Force from 2010 to 2014 as a Medic. He was never deployed, but was stationed in Colorado Springs for the duration of his commitment.
