Veterans Day & stories

Everyone who served has a story ...

Today is Veterans Day in the United States. Everyone who served has a story, and that's what we're going to feature today.

Below, I've excerpted five short stories of people's service, from things like soldiers' memoirs, veterans projects, and other sources. I think they're all quite interesting. But, they're incomplete—and that’s where our readers come in.

Much as we've done recently with some other subjects, I'd like to ask you to share your stories.

• If you served in the military, tell us a bit about what you did and what you experienced.

• And if you didn't, but you’ve heard from family members or other people you're close to about their service, tell us what you know.

I'll add my own pretty run-of-the-mill story in the comments, by the way; I didn't do that much, but I do think I'm pretty good at making the little I did sound entertaining.

To set the tone, here are the five stories. Again, this really will work best if readers share their experiences in the comments, so I hope to see you there:

David Goggins, Navy SEAL and author of Can't Hurt Me:

"I had less than three months to lose 106 pounds. It sounded like an impossible task, which is one reason I didn't quit my job. ... I'd wake up at 4:30 a.m., munch a banana, and hit the ASVAB books.

Around 5 a.m., I'd take that book to my stationary bike where I'd sweat and study for two hours. Remember, my body was a mess. I couldn't run multiple miles yet, so I had to burn as many calories as I could on the bike.

After that, I'd drive over to Carmel High School and jump in the pool for a two-hour swim. From there I hit the gym for a circuit workout ... I was constantly hungry. Dinner was my one true meal but there wasn't much to it. ... By the time I was down to 250, my quest to qualify for the SEALs wasn't a daydream anymore. ...

I knew that 190 men usually class-up for a typical SEAL training and only about 40 people make it. ... I didn't just want to be one of those 40. I wanted to be the best."

Dick Winters, World War II D-Day veteran and author of Beyond Band of Brothers:

"I never considered myself a killer although I had killed several of the enemy. Killing did not make me happy, but in this particular circumstance, it left me momentarily satisfied -- satisfied because it led to confidence in getting a difficult job done with minimal casualties. Nor did I ever develop a hatred for the individual German soldier. I merely wanted to eliminate them.

There is nothing personal about combat. As the war progressed, I actually developed a healthy respect for the better units we faced on the battlefield. But that was all in the future. For the time being, I was just happy to have survived my baptism by fire. I had always been confident in my own abilities, but the success at Brecourt increased my confidence in my leadership, as well as my ability to pass it on to my soldiers. ...

The Germans were evidently not as tired as we were because they fired their machine guns all night and hollered like a bunch of drunken kids having a party. Before I dozed off, I did not forget to get on my knees and thank God for helping me to live through this day and to ask his Help on D+1."

Steven Joseph Hyde, from a collection of veterans’ stories with the Library of Congress:

“When I came home from Vietnam in 1968, I was out for about six years. ... I joined the National Guard in 1974, and if anyone had ever told me in 1968 that I would join the Army National Guard, I’d have called them a liar. But things had changed enough.

So as I was in the Guard now for 25-plus years, trained to some day be mobilized in case of war. We always prepared for it. We trained for it. I moved up through the ranks. And then 9/11 hit.

And when 9/11 hit, it changed everything. Prior to that my life was pre-Vietnam, post-Vietnam. Now, today, my life is pre-9/11, post-9/11. As I'm sure it is for a lot of people.

I was 57 years old, and I was a first sergeant of a helicopter maintenance company in the Iowa National Guard. Three weeks after 9/11, we were mobilized, and it came with no notice.”

John Hintz, also veterans’ stories collection at the Library of Congress:

“It was different completely than Iraq. I think that what I expected out of Iraq I didn’t get — it was all fighting IEDs. And then when I went to Afghanistan, that was war.

You’re in the mountains. There were times where I was on the ground with 50 men of my own, facing 80 men that were Taliban in extremely long firefights — they could last up to two days.

We got ambushed on one patrol out in the mountains … Naka was the name of the town. ...

I stood up right off the bat because all the gunfire was coming at us, and I wanted to see it. Probably not the smartest decision, but it’s one of the things I did in combat was I would like to stand up and look around. I saw that we were completely surrounded.

So right off the bat, we have Specialist Lopez is shot through the leg. We have another individual who’s injured from an RPG blast. So we bring those guys to the center of the perimeter.

I’ve got my soldiers that are shooting at the enemy, but my job is now to pinpoint where they need to shoot. And I got on the radio and started to call for air support and medivac. Then we had the Afghan Army with us, we had 20 Afghan soldiers, and two of them were shot.

So right off the bat we've got all our medics occupied with four injured and we just started to fight. …”

Frank Murphy, World War II veteran of the 100th Bomb Group and POW in World War II, author of Luck of the Draw:

“Each prisoner was allowed to send three one-page letters and four postcards a month. A team of English-speaking German women censored all outgoing POW mail. On October 28, 1943, I sent my first letter, to my mother:

Dear Mom,

We had a little bad luck and had to bail out of our ship. I was slightly wounded but am okay. If you can arrange it, I need socks, underwear, and handkerchiefs. Also, chocolate if it is available. The Red Cross will give you all of the information. Please write my commanding officer and tell him I am a prisoner. Please don't worry about me. Give my love to Dad and the family.

Frank

Invariably, our mail was two to three months old when it was delivered. This was frustrating because I knew that my mother, as long as she had an address for me, [would write] me every day. But I wasn't alone. ...

On January 31, 1944, I wrote her telling her that I had received no mail but that I felt ‘sure that you have known for some time where I am now and that mail is on the way ...’

On March 18, 1944, I sent a card informing my mother and father that I had just received my first letter from home, five months after having been captured.”

OK, I hope we'll get a lot of comments on this one.

Remember: It's not necessarily about whether people served in combat or became heroes; it's about the fact that at one point, they raised their right hand and swore to defend the Constitution with their lives if it were necessary.

I think that’s reason enough to expect they have a story worth a few minutes at least. To paraphrase a saying: Some gave all, but all gave some.

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7 other things

Quick note: I’ve been away with my family on vacation in London; just got back late yesterday, in fact. Did I miss anything?

It was quite an experience being an American abroad as the returns came in. As soon as they heard my accent, I had quite a few British people say to me: “So, um, did you hear about the election?”

I think they were intensely curious, and trying to suss out how I felt without tipping their hands.

Anyway, we’re out of “low power mode,” but I’m still going to have to skip the “7 other things” section for today while I unpack. Thanks for bearing with me.

In the meantime: Why not add a comment?

And on this Veteran’s Day, thanks to everyone who has served our country.

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Thanks for reading. Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash. See you in the comments—I really do hope people join in!