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By GEOFF FOX

gfox@tampatrib.com

Published: November 12, 2008

ST. LEO - To some, Veterans Day means a day of relaxation.

It means more to Army Lt. Col. James Botters, a professor of military science and leadership at the University of South Florida.

His grandfather served in the horse-drawn artillery during World War I. Other family members served in the Korean War.

As a child, Botters prayed for the safe return of Scott Harris, his mother's first cousin, who was declared missing in action in Vietnam in 1968. Harris' remains were flown home by the Vietnamese government in 1985.

"I cannot stand here and talk of veteran sacrifice without recognizing the sacrifice of the spouses, children and families we leave behind when called to war," Botters said at a Veterans Day observance Tuesday at Saint Leo University.

"I have never seen someone walk up to a military spouse in the commissary line with three kids in tow, trying to buy enough groceries to make it to the next paycheck and say, 'Thank you for your sacrifice.'"

Several among the crowd Tuesday were U.S. military veterans. They sat in the shade of enormous oaks, listening to taps and "America the Beautiful." At the end of the ceremony, which about 280 people attended, doves were released and flew in tight circles above the lawn and nearby buildings.

Bill Ditewig, 58, an associate professor of theology at the university and a former U.S. Navy commander, said many veterans seem bound "by something that goes to the essence of who we are."

Military service, he said, "points us beyond ourselves."

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 779-4613.

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