2009-11-12

Veterans & ‘the wonderful reality we call America’

By Judith Pannebaker

This year’s fifth annual Bandera Honors Veterans ceremony, held Saturday, Nov. 7, on the lawn of the Bandera County Courthouse, was made all the more poignant – and relevant – by the recent massacre of soldiers and civilians at Fort Hood in Killeen.

On Thursday, Nov. 5, 13 individuals were killed and 29 injured allegedly by a US Army psychiatrist stationed at Fort Hood prior to his deployment to Afghanistan.

After giving the benediction, Rev. Joel Garcia, senior chaplain at the new jail and justice center, asked for a moment of silence for those affected by the unprovoked shooting.

Participants in the particularly moving Veterans Day ceremony included the Bandera Honors Veterans committee, comprised of Pam and Charlie Baker, Garcia, Linda James, J. Sanders, Bandera Mayor Horst Pallaske, Richard Green Mark Marcaurel, Carl Hare and Joan and Gary Harper. Other groups that assisted were the American Legion Post 157 in Bandera, American Legion Post 410 in Lakehills and the Vietnam Veterans of American, Kerrville Chapter, as well as members of the Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and Civil Air Patrol.

To honor the passing of Marine Corps veteran Richard Kaiser, also a member of the committee, Chairman Fidel Ramirez presented his widow, Francis Kaiser, with a special commemorative certificate.

Retired Naval Cmdr. Floyd Stanley Kunkle gave the keynote address. The Tarpley resident spoke on the symbolic act of donning a military uniform, calling it “a deep and selfless commitment to America’s ideas and ideals.”

He also enumerated the significant contributions veterans make in communities across the United States, particularly in the area of emergency medicine, which is advanced by the experience of military surgeons trained to treat with trauma in combat hospitals. Other boots are similarly filled by veterans include pilots who received their wings on active duty, as well as law enforcement and firefighting units.

“It is not just job skills (these veterans) bring to our communities. They also bring their commitment, their work ethic, their sense of fair play and their willingness to act as members of a team,” Kunkle said. “It is these values – the core values of anyone who wears a uniform – that continue to refresh American society.”

He went on to say that the loyalty of veterans lies in their adherence to the ideas and ideals the FoundingFathers put forth for this nation – the moral truths that all men are created equal and are endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable rights – life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

“Moreover, we are born with those rights, we do not get them from government. Indeed, the rights or powers of the government come from us – from the ‘consent of the governed’,” Kunkle said. “Unfortunately, we live in a time when more and more powers are being assumed by the government or the courts.”

In conclusion, Kunkle advocated expanding the urge to “thank a vet” to “If you love the freedoms this county has to offer, thank a vet.” He added, “They have given so much of themselves to make this nation strong and they leave us a legacy of which we can all be proud – this wonderful reality that we call America.”