Rob Longacre worked as a dog handler during the Vietnam War and Brent Miller was in the National Guard for 30 years. They attended Draper’s Veterans Day ceremony and said their thoughts went to family members who served. 

“I think about my dad, a WWII vet, my father-in-law, a WWII veteran, and my uncle who was a WWII and Korean War vet, and what they went through compared to what I went through,” Longacre said. Miller said his father served in Africa and his father’s brother was killed in Germany during WWII. His uncle on his mother’s side was taken as a Japanese POW and killed on a ship bound for Japan when an American submarine struck them down. 

Rob Longacre and Brent Miller, both veterans, said their thoughts were with members of their families who fought and died during WWII. “Being a veteran is a privilege,” Longacre said. (Mimi Darley Dutton/City Journals)

 Barry Skinner said he had two Navy friends who died as a result of Agent Orange during Vietnam. Skinner came home from his military service just before the Vietnam War started, but he remembers some Americans went so far as to spit on U.S. soldiers in those tumultuous times. “They didn’t realize the sacrifice people made,” he said. In recent years, Skinner got to participate in an Honor Flight, an experience he described as “inspirational.”

“I’m grateful for the hope we have in America because of our veterans…and the U.S. military. Those people will never let us down and they never have,” Mayor Troy Walker said.

Chief Warrant Officer David Schmutz served as keynote speaker and was introduced by Walker, a family friend. Walker said Schmutz’s father and brothers are veterans and Schmutz, a soldier for 24 years, has served extensive deployments, completed some of the military’s most demanding courses, and received various merit awards. 

In his speech, Schmutz addressed the complexity of it all – a nation that’s an experiment, its military, its leaders, its people. “Gathering like this is not just a ceremony, it’s a statement that reverence still has meaning,” he said. Schmutz thanked every veteran who served, families who carried the burden of their absence, and those who never made it home. 

“This day is meant to honor service and sacrifice, but to do that honestly, we have to be willing to face the truth, not just the comfortable parts. My service is deeply personal. There are days I’m proud beyond words and other days I wrestle with questions that have no answers,” he said. 

Schmutz described his Italian born maternal grandfather who came to America as a POW. “He chose to work for the Allied Forces because he’d seen the face of tyranny. He became a U.S. citizen and lived the American dream,” he said. Schmutz’s father served in Vietnam, “a war mired in contradiction,” and lost more than 75 colleagues in action. 

“My generation went to Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond…How do we measure what we gave? We fought wars that often lacked clear objectives. For years I believed deeply in the motto of Special Forces….Over time I began to ask, have we become the oppressor? Generations of veterans have come home to that same question,” he said.

“The hardest battle is returning to a country where fewer than 1% serve yet everyone has an opinion on what service means. What I know is this. Freedom always begins with belief, what people are willing to believe about themselves and one another. And yet I believe America is still a grand experiment…. Our greatness is found in our refusal to abandon hope. As long as there are men and women willing to wear the uniform, there is hope, and as long as there are citizens willing to speak truth and challenge power with reason....Every generation walks through its own Valley of Shadows…but through quiet faith, truth cannot be extinguished. Veterans Day is to ensure our nation remains worthy of whether it can live up to is name. Patriotism is love strong enough to confront what is broken. Even in darkness, light endures…,” Schmutz said. 

“Let us honor…one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all,” Schmutz concluded.

Attendee Mike Hill deemed Schmutz’s speech “remarkable.”