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Show Thursday, November 13, 2008 AMERICAN FORK' CITIZEN Page 5 Defining a Veteran Staff Sgt. Brock Jones ri n r ;3 hen I was a boy, the Y 1 ' y only people I associ- w w ated with the word "veteran" were old and they told great stories: Grandpa Jones and Grandpa Tuckett. They were the only veterans I knew, even though I didn't really re-ally understand what it meant to be a vet. I remember my father talking about others he knew, relatives and friends both living and dead, who had served in various wars, as Lee Greenwood played on the radio of my dad's two-tone nineteen seventy-something Ford pickup. The word "veteran," according accord-ing to one of the definitions in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, diction-ary, means "an old soldier of long service." Though true, not every veteran is old, and not every veteran has been in the service a long time. Today's Army is full of soldiers with multiple combat tours who are far from old by any standard of measure. I recently heard of a soldier from Missouri who joined the Army six years ago, right out of high school, who is now in his fourth combat tour, having served a previous stint here in Iraq and two in Afghanistan. Afghani-stan. The ranks of the armed services are filled with young men and women, veterans all, who are barely legal adults and who, after November 4, will have been eligible to vote in only one presidential election. These young service members are the ones who make things go, the wrench-turners, wrench-turners, the lead-slingers and the worker bees, the grunts and the ground pounders and the gun bunnies who bring a vitality and youthful maturity to the occupation of arms. The Army is fueled by the spit and vinegar of America's young men and women. In basic training, I was considered con-sidered one of the "old men" in my class at the age of 25. Of nearly 150 soldiers, there were maybe 20 or 30 who were my same age or older, but the majority of my fellow trainees were somewhere between the ages of 18 and 23. When I moved to my permanent station sta-tion at Fort Carson, Colo., the oldest person in my howitzer section was 33 and the youngest young-est was barely 19. Even the se nior non-commissioned officer in our battery was barely 40 years old. Old men with canes who wear boxy mesh-backed hats, slightly tilted to one side, decorated deco-rated with colorful unit patches patch-es and awards have become the epitome of the American veteran. So have the bearded and dirty backpackers who sit along the freeway off-ramps with bent cardboard signs that tell us they are vets. Thousands Thou-sands of names carved into reflective re-flective black stone and community com-munity walls across America and the folded flags in triangle shadow boxes have come to represent vets long gone from us. But those veterans have not always been old or dying or dead. Behind the old faces and white hair, behind the etched names and the folded flags lies an almost forgotten history his-tory of youthful health and vim and vigor. It is not the old and aged who fight and win wars, as I pictured in my head as a boy, but the young and vibrant in the prime of life, called upon by their country to sacrifice life or liberty or the pursuit of happiness. Those who survived the battles and the violence have simply receded re-ceded the way all life does, black hair turning gray, tight skin sagging, etched with lines. The dictionary definition of veteran, though true, is not universally applicable today to what a veteran is. A veteran is the guy who sits next to you in economics class, the husband and father of the family that moved in next door. A veteran is the woman who works out at the gym the same time you do, the wife whose husband takes her and their children to the same movies you go to and on family fami-ly vacations to places you also go. They are men and women, all volunteers, who have been asked by their country for everything ev-erything they have, even their youth, and they will one day don their sideways hats and take up their rubber-tipped canes and be stricken with age and the weight that comes with the piling up of the years. They will be the gray -haired story tellers of war. Age does not define a veteran, veter-an, but it is often the veterans who define an age. Delivering and protecting troops veterans Editor's note: This is the second in a series about Harvey Yeoman. This week, Yeoman teams how to drive a landing craft used to deliver troops, vehicles, and supplies to invasion forces. w hen I arrived ar-rived at boot camp, I was already in good physical physi-cal shape because I had had to work all my life. We had to do so many chin-ups, so many pushups push-ups sometimes having to keep going until we were told to stop. We also had to learn to swim a mile. We marched with imitation wooden guns. Food was overall good, though some of the time bad. I was taken from regular boot training to Coronado Island, where at age only 16 1 went to landing craft school. A beach had been setup there, and we were taught how to bring the LCVP (landing craft, vehicle, personnel) into the beach, let the front down, and let the guys out. Then we learned how to make a run back to get some more guys. There were three on the crew: the driver (me), the mechanic, and the man in charge of secur ing and letting loose the landing land-ing craft. My job all during the war was to drive the landing craft. A landing craft is about 6 feet wide inside and 18 or 20 feet long. The number of people it will hold depends on the amount of gear in it. It has an in-board motor, and it runs pretty fast. The front end, which drops down, is made of thick metal, to stop bullets. I would stand in the back, facing fac-ing front, working the steering steer-ing wheel. Some of the landing craft were equipped with rockets on the gunnels. When you got close to the beach, you could fire those, to protect the lives of the soldiers you were delivering. On the ship from which the LCVPs were launched, I was on the three-inch gun during general quarters. That ship also had 20, 40, and 50mm anti-aircraft guns. After training, I was assigned as-signed to the USS Jay Franklin Bell, an amphibious personnel assault ship, a cruise ship converted con-verted to an army craft. It had at least 600 men on the crew and room for a lot of troops. It carried maybe 10 or 12 landing craft. We went directly to Tulagi Harbor, Guadalcanal. The beach had already been secured, se-cured, so my ship brought in personnel and supplies. I was able to go ashore, but if you got back very far from the beach, you could get killed right easy. There were a lot of natives running around. I was on Guadalcanal for a few days. Sometimes I'd sit in the evening and look off at the beach, while trying to learn to play a harmonica or mandolin. Whenever we completed a mission, we'd come back to San Francisco, where we'd pick up a load of regular army troops. After the first time we returned to the States, we went north to the Aleutian Islands, to Attu and Kiska, which the Japanese had taken the only battle fought on American soil in World War II. These islands were far north, and it was so cold. It was said that if you fell in the water, you'd be good for about two seconds. The fog would freeze on the rigging and metal of the ship, so that it was like everything was made of ice. It appeared that the Japanese Japa-nese might use these islands to threaten Alaska. On May 11, 1943, several U.S. troopships invaded Attu and Kiska, and I was involved. There followed several weeks of fierce fighting. fight-ing. Many of the Japanese, convinced that they were going go-ing to be captured and killed, committed suicide. Somebody found a journal kept by a very well-educated Japanese doctor who had been educated in the U.S. The journal told all about his life, and this is where we learned a lot of what had been going on on the islands that we didn't know. There was no Japanese resistance on the beach; you wouldn't even know there was anybody on the island. The Japanese were in caves in the mountains back on top of the island. Next week: Yeoman participates in more invasions. Some veterans may wish, on their own, to tape or digitally record their memories of military service. These will be transcribed and archived. For instructions on how to do this, e-mail Don Norton at don.norton.byu.edu. news The senior center will be closed for Thanksgiving, Nov. 27. Contact information The American Fork Senior Center is located at 54 E. Main St. and offers van pickup and drop off for $1. To arrange for a ride, call 763-3090. Gloria Parker is the center secretary, and the director is Ted Strong. Center hours are from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday through Friday except holidays. Lunches are served daily at noon. Thanksgiving dinner A Thanksgiving meal is planned for Nov. 21. Those who wish to share in Thanksgiving need to call the center two days ahead of time to reserve a meal, 763-3090. Light trip Seniors can sign up for the annual holiday light trip at the center. The trip is planned for Dec. 3, cost is $25 and the bus leaves at 4 p.m. The first stop will be at the Cracker Barrel for dinner. din-ner. The tour will take in the Spanish Fork and Salem light shows. Membership drive The American Fork Senior Center is starting their membership drive and cost is $4 for a membership card. For $ 15, seniors can subscribe to the American Fork Citizen for one year. The drive will continue con-tinue to the end of November. Ladies Club The Ladies Bridge Club meets every Wednesday at 1 p.m. Luncheons Those who haven't been to a center lunch for a while are asked to call one day in advance so enough meals for those attending can be provided. pro-vided. The suggested donation for the meal is $2 for 60-plus seniors and $4.90 for those 59 years old and younger. The suggested donation for salads is $2.25 for seniors and $5.65 for those 59 or younger. Moun-tainland Moun-tainland Association of Governments Gov-ernments and the state of Utah fund the senior lunch program. MENU Friday Roast pork, mashed pota toes and gravy, corn, bread or roll, seasonal fruit and low fat milk. Monday Chicken with cream sauce, bread dressing, three bean salad, green salad and dressing, dress-ing, fresh orange and low fat milk. Tuesday Swedish meatballs, parslied potatoes, California blend vegetables, veg-etables, whole wheat bread or roll, green salad with dressing, banana and low fat milk. Wednesday Chicken taco salad, tortilla chips, whole wheat roll or bread, fresh orange, low fat milk. Thursday Lasagna, bread or roll, green beans, green salad and dressing, fruit cocktail and low fat milk. m Hi&aey Jeff Ingersoll sro iMii fm m lite ngjiii iiisi fe? mm mimm II t& lite iisslk mil ili mmmm is mwm mum WlMt are my chances of having enough money during my lifetime to maintain the lifestyle I choose? 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