Today is Veterans' Day 2023. It's my first one stateside in 22 years.
This morning, a brisk but pleasant Michigan November, I went to my youngest daughter's elementary school because the school invited veterans for a special event. During the Gulf War, my sister had been in elementary school herself, now her and my wife were parent volunteers. A good fifty or so veterans showed up, all of us were given thank you cards and a paper poppy, my card was from Adelyn- no last name or grade. My coat is unzipped because the weather is decent and I stick the poppy into the least bad place I can, my shirt pocket where it sits rather awkwardly.
We all sat in a folding chair and the kids came outside, the K and 1st graders to our left, the 2nd and 3rd graders to the right, the 4th and 5th grades straight in front. For me a niece to the left and another to the right with my daughter straight ahead, but hard to see because she was standing behind a boy bigger then her. The principal at the High School my two older kids attend is there too, his daughter and mine are classmates, and today I learned that he's a Navy vet.
The principal made a brief statement, remembering the dead, so I thought of the eight names that needed remembering although none that I knew in life: two guys Jeff Middleton of Kansas and Robert Talley of New Jersey, the two guys who'd died when this BS friendly fire story occurred.
We'd go on to lose six more that would die in actual combat: Anthony Kidd, David Crumby, Manuel Davila, David Kramer, Tony Applegate, and James Murray, They had been in my brigade (2nd Armor Division (Forward) out of Garlstedt Germany. Seven of our death were from 1/41. the other, Murray, from 3/66, was also a friendly fire. I was in B Co. 498th Support where we'd lost no one.)
The principal invited the music teacher out, and we were treated to a patriotic song and dance performance from each class. It lasted about a half hour or so, my wife was armed with her phone's camera taking photos. When it was done, kids who knew a veteran were invited to stick around a bit longer, the rest would file into the school, so my 3rd grade niece runs up, my daughter comes forward, my kindergarten niece oblivious does not, she walks right back past us and returns into the gym with her class. As we line up to enter the gym as well, I learned that the 5th graders made the paper poppies in art class and that there are a few Adelyns at this school.
We entered the gym and there were eight moms volunteering passing out coffee, tea, juice fruit, and donuts... the last two being my sister and wife at the donut station. We gather our goodies and when we get to the end of the line, my sister is upset that only 2/3 of the children are present, and so dispatches her elder daughter to go retrieve the younger one. I take my strawberry donut, orange and both a coffee and apple juice and go sit down with my daughter while my niece puts her stuff down and runs off to gather her sister who comes back and cuts to the front of the line and joins us. She asks about the flower and I begin to tell her it's a poppy and about a great WWI battle that took place in a poppy field in Belgium and how... but she lost interest, so I struck up a conversation with the Vietnam grandpa sitting across from me instead, a man who walks with a cane and takes great effort to stand up.
So things wound down, the kids returned to class, there's a large quantity of extra donuts so I get an apple fritter this time. The volunteers have switched gears to cleanup mode. Soon thereafter the gym is turned over to the school staff so they can get started on lunch and we were out of there.
Anyway, I wanted to share my Veterans Day experience with you guys on behalf of the Middleton, Talley, Kidd, Crumbly, Davila, Kramer, Applegate, and Murray families. 32 years gone now. In their sacrifice, this is the sort of things they miss: kids, grandkids, song and dance performances, conversations with other veterans, handmade cards and paper poppies, coffee, and donuts. We've got wars waging in Ukraine and Israel right now, lots of other families are going to feel it, but these eight are mine.
