I LOVE this! This is how friends behave! This U.S. Marine did well when choosing a buddy. I know of a Soldier from Gladwin, Michigan whose father served in the U.S. Military and was stationed at many locations in the U.S. over the length of his career. He always took his family with him, because he was not only loyal to his Country but to his family. I give the father and his family many thanks for their service. I know the family always considered Gladwin their “home”. His mother and 4 of his siblings still reside in Gladwin. This Soldier followed in his father’s footsteps, enlisting in the U.S. Navy during wartime, at the age of 17. He didnt have any idea that if he didnt reside in Gladwin at the time of enlistment or enlist in Gladwin, his name would never appear on the Gladwin Honor Roll with his father’s name and his Uncle who lost his life while serving in the U.S. Military. Now, being a cautious and many times skeptical person....this story tugged at my heartstrings, it also made me wonder if it was true. After-all, how could anyone deny this man the privilege of his name being displayed, since he wasnt in Gladwin solely because of his father’s military involvement. To me that practice would be Anti-American and insane! So before getting stirred up about it, I decided to check it out myself. I proceeded to ask around as to whom I might contact to learn more about the Honor Roll, and in a short while I was given a name to contact. After corresponding with him, I found out that this is a local practice and not a “National Practice”. I was devastated to find out that the Soldier was 100% accurate in what he told me! This is what I was told by one in charge of the Honor Roll: “I fully understand your concerns however if we didnt use these criteria for being on the Honor Roll it would become so overwhelming it couldnt be managed. A while back, we completely re-did the names and the new backgrounds. We went over every name on the Honor Roll and checked it against records of enlistment and home of residence when they left the service and removed a great number of names. Some were told that if they would join the VFW when they moved here from wherever, they would be placed on the wall and they were. Those people had no ties to Gladwin at all. Moved here after retirement lived 5 years and were gone. No family here or anything. I hope you see what was done was for a good reason. We needed a criteria and that is what we did.” Well, I’m sorry, but this explanation did spin me up and I’ve been stewing about it for a long time. I mean, joining the VFW is not able to be compared to a lifetime of military commitment! And making that comparison really is lame. So I responded with this: “Thats sad! I realize people put time and effort into making decisions, but it doesnt always make them right. Exactly how many people have requested that their name be placed on that Honor Roll and out of those people how many actually were uprooted from Gladwin because of their parents’ service to this country? I think there is a sounding difference to be taken into consideration.” The man didn’t take the time to respond…but I still believe that this Veteran’s name should be added to the Honor Roll along-side his Father and Uncle’s names and I also think that the name of one of his relatives who never served in the military should be removed……. Diane Grove Mienk
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 21:02:17 +0000
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