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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 12, 2009

Veterans Day conjures up different memories for different people, but to all, the day represents a time of appreciation for those who have served or are serving our country. On TBO.com, we asked you to tell us what the day means to you. These are some of the stories you shared.

A salute to servicewomen

Until recent generations, as women, we had to stand firm and watch our men go off to war. Things are different now, I know several women who have been in the service or have daughters there. As a woman, I have seen my father, my husband and now my two sons all go off to war. Today there are men who know this same feeling about their wives and daughters. I am so proud of all of them and their courage to fight to keep America free. I ask all my fellow American brothers and sisters to please give a pray for all our brave soldiers. Thank God for those who sacrificed to keep this country great for all the rest of us. A special Veteran's Day shout-out to PVT Bryan Conn and PV2 Gavin Conn in the U.S. Army - Ft. Benning, Ga.

Cynthia Schweitz
Three heroes
My wife and I spent Sunday afternoon (November 8th) at the International Mall and Plaza. We took a break to have lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen.

While we were waiting to be seated, three families arrived. Each family accompanied a young and proud soldier. We knew they were soldiers as each one wore a baseball style hat embroidered with their military branch and unit insignia.

Sadly, each of these young men had been severely wounded in combat and were now paralyzed and destined to spend their lives in wheelchairs. I wanted to extend my appreciation for their service and great sacrifice to our country.

I was just too moved to say anything as I was just so proud of them at that moment.

Today is Veteran's Day and my thoughts are about these three heroes. I want them to know that we all love them and will never forget their sacrifices. Hopefully in a short time they will be released from the hospital and will be able to go home to their families and loved ones.

Unfortunately their sacrifices to the country may too soon be forgotten.

Therefore, I am making a personal pledge to these "Three Heroes," that on each Veteran's Day I will personally remember each of them and thank them for their great service.

Bill Nicolow

Lucky to come home

Almond Vallone of Tampa enlisted in the Army in 1949 with three buddies from his hometown, Carthage, N.Y. He served 26 years, retiring as a Chief Warrant Officer 4.

Among his biggest soldiering memories: the Tet Offensive in Saigon in February 1968. He was in criminal investigations, based outside Saigon, and drove into the city to collect reports on the action, thinking the Viet Cong attack was largely over - and suppressed.

"Viet Cong were marching in platoon formation down the street, and here we were, this little convoy," he remembers. "I thought we'd lost Saigon."

But the eagerness, patriotism, and gung ho attitude of the young GIs won the city back. Many of the soldiers were in Saigon because they'd been busted and demoted for drug and other infractions, including "fragging" their own officers. And yet, these guys stayed awake for hours on end to fight.

"They turned out to be heroes," my stepfather says.

One young busted private jumped onto the hood of a Jeep and lobbed grenades into an American compound occupied by VC. That created an opening for U.S. soldiers to get inside. That same private tossed a pistol to an officer trapped on an upper floor as enemy soldiers approached him.

But on Veterans Day, Poppa Val, now 80, always thinks of Ernie Gabbie, one of the four friends he enlisted with. Ernie went to Japan and was quickly sent to Korea, where he was soon captured and sent to a POW camp. He died there.

Pop says any soldier who comes home is lucky:

"There but for the grace of God go I."

Penny Carnathan, about her stepfather, Poppa Val

'A Credit To His Country'

Carefree as a lark was he

Devoted to his country and his family

Yes ma-me, no sir, polite as can be

A credit to his country is he.

He volunteered for war

To keep his country safe

He left the home he knew

His family and his friends

The comfort of his bed

To sleep in distant lands

He tried to keep the peace

In a land where he is hated

But tall and proud he stood

A credit to his country is he.

He came home with scars

Unseen by human eyes

He sheds a tear or two

For those he left behind

He tosses and turns

He has sleepless nights

The memories of war

Crowd his helpless mind

Carefree as a lark was he

Devoted to his country and family

A credit to his country is he.

Iris M. Ortiz, about her husband, SSG Lucas Ortiz

Grandmother watching over her

My daughter would not want me sharing this story, she is the modest type. She is a Lt. Commander in the United States Navy and a Naval Academy Graduate.

Three years ago while leading missions on the ground in Iraq, trying to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqis in Anbar and working the Tribal Chiefs to our side, her platoon came under fire by Al-Queda at a local school where they were visiting with school children. She had been taught to speak Arabic at the Army/Navy language school in Monterrey, California, the year before and volunteered for this duty. She was able to use her language skills to get the children to safety before leading a defense to repel the attackers.

When I spoke to her after that day, and asked if she wasn't afraid, and how she knew what to do, she responded that at first she was, but as she got going she felt the aura and presence of her grandmother there, calming her and helping her respond. We, my wife and her sisters had spent that morning at Memorial hospital here in Tampa, watching her 83-year-old grandmother slip away. I came back to my office that morning to e-mail her of her grandmother's passing. She opened and read the e-mail upon returning from her mission to learn of her grandmother's passing. There is very little doubt among any of her family that her grandmother was with her that day, protecting and advising her as she always had done while she was growing up.

She was awarded the Bronze Star for this action two years ago. She never talks about it, but as a very proud father, I just had to. God Bless all our Veterans!

Ross Hays

Someone else's son

My brother has become someone else's son since a helicopter crash killed 17 soldiers in Iraq.

Warren Hansen, a 36-year-old from Clintonville, Wis., befriended my brother Luis Velazquez Jr. as they worked together as staff sergeants in the 101st Airborne Air Assault Division out of Fort Campbell.

Since Warren's death, my brother has made Warren's parents, Jim and Beth Karlson, part of his life.

My brother never got the chance to say goodbye before Warren boarded one of two Black Hawks that crashed into each other Nov. 15, 2003.

Even as Luis, 44, was getting ready to leave for his third tour in Iraq in August, he was thinking he could visit the Karlsons while on his R&R.

The Karlsons send Luis packages filled with Wisconsin cheese. And they keep in touch with his wife, Janet, comforting her in a time of busyness - caring for two daughters, ages 19 and 3 - and loneliness.

Beth Karlson knows the feeling of losing a son and a husband to war. Warren's father, Staff Sgt. James Hansen, was killed in Vietnam in 1972. Beth later remarried.

For now, my family and the Karlsons are thinking about my brother, who is with the 1st Infantry out of Fort Riley and isn't even halfway through his yearlong tour.

Daniela Velazquez

Undying loyalty

My late father, Donald K. Redden/MSgt. USAF (Ret.) was a Pearl Harbor survivor of World War II, served in Korea during the Korean Conflict, and was stationed in Thailand during the Vietnam War. Between WWII and just prior to our involvement in the Korean Conflict, he served in the Massachusetts National Guard and performed honorary guard duty when Franklin D. Roosevelt visited Boston.

The morning of the attack on Pearl Harbor, my father, just 19 - who had entered the U.S. Army in February 1941 and was sent to Hawaii in May 1941 - and his platoon were on an ammo run between Schofield Barracks, Fort Shafter and Fort Rucker, Hawaii. When they spotted the enemy aircraft, they believed them to be the Navy performing maneuvers in the early morning hours of that fateful Sunday. It wasn't until they were strafed by the departing Japanese did they realize this was no practice drill. That was just the first of several experiences Dad had while serving in the South Pacific.

During the Korean Conflict, my father - now in the U.S. Air Force - served as sergeant on a tank. The weather was miserable, the conditions even more so. My father, like many family men stationed there, was drawn to helping the children of the villages in his sector. One Christmas, he had Mother send him as many bags of M&Ms as she could find in our home town so that the local orphans could have something special on Christmas morning.

A child of the Depression, Dad felt a great love for this country and all it stood for. In the almost 30 years he served the United States, he never wavered in his belief in and loyalty to the red, white and blue. If he had not been medically discharged, I believe he would have served until his dying day - November 6, 2000. Like many of his generation, he is buried at Florida National Cemetery, Bushnell, Florida.

Tish Redden

A higher purpose

In many ways, I am ashamed to admit that this may be the first year Veterans Day has true - close to home - meaning to me.

My one and only child, John Heine, is currently in Basic Training at Fort Sill, Okla., with the U.S. Army National Guard.

With the recent news at Fort Hood, Texas, as well as the ongoing Middle East wars, like it or not, I am reminded daily of the risks my son has chosen to take on.

Nevertheless, that is part of what makes John truly special. He cares about other people. And he knows God has set him aside for a higher purpose.

That is why I am proud to say - John Heine is my son.

Please keep all of our Service folks in your prayers.

Lela Cherry

He gave his life

Throughout my years, growing up in Tampa, our family frequently talked of those in our family who served our Country. My father, uncles and numerous others were so very proud of their service.

There was one family member however, who couldn't speak for himself. He was my fathers' cousin and his name was Henry "Hank" Elrod.

The story of Major Henry Elrod follows:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while attached to Marine Fighting Squadron 211, during action against enemy Japanese land, surface and aerial units at Wake Island, 8 to 23 December 1941. Engaging vastly superior forces of enemy bombers and warships on 9 and 12 December, Capt. Elrod shot down 2 of a flight of 22 hostile planes and, executing repeated bombing and strafing runs at extremely low altitude and close range, succeeded in inflicting deadly damage upon a large Japanese vessel, thereby sinking the first major warship to be destroyed by small caliber bombs delivered from a fighter-type aircraft.

Responsible in a large measure for the strength of his sector's gallant resistance, on 23 December, Capt. Elrod led his men with bold aggressiveness until he fell, mortally wounded. His superb skill as a pilot, daring leadership and unswerving devotion to duty distinguished him among the defenders of Wake Island, and his valiant conduct reflects the highest credit upon himself and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

The United States Navy has honored Henry Elrod by naming a ship after him. It is stationed in Norfolk, Va.: The USS Elrod, "Hammerin Hank."

Karen Elrod Williams

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