Remember to wish happy Veterans Day to all who have served

I think back to my time in the now inactivated 318th Maintenance Company in the 1990s here in State College.

The Berlin Wall had fallen and there was a sense among my friends in the unit that there would be peace. We believed that we would never see another large scale war and most operations would be small in nature. It was a fun time in the Reserves and there was no perceived “threat” of deployment.

That was then and this is now. The Army Reserves is a modular, operational force that deploys on a regular basis as does the National Guard. Military men and women from all branches and components, many not yet old enough to buy a beer, are side by side on the front lines.

Often, they are in control of multimillion dollar pieces of equipment in environments that are foreign to most Americans. Many military personnel from this area have deployed and returned with some paying the ultimate price.

A young soldier from Knox and a former Penn State student who became a Navy SEAL each received the Medal of Honor. I had the honor, duty and deep sadness of telling a local family that their son, loved one, dad, would not be returning. None of this could I have imagined or predicted.

While all this takes place, spouses, children, parents and grandparents of their loved military person remain behind paying bills, taking children to church, football practice and piano recitals. With each news broadcast announcing another military person fallen, they pray it is not their loved one who has been called to pay the ultimate price.

This Veterans Day, as you wish the veterans of previous wars and conflicts fought Happy Veterans Day, remember to do the same to all the young soldiers in this area who have recently returned and, please, take an extra minute to thank the family members for all that they have been through. Often times, their situation is worse than ours.

Happy Veterans Day to all present and past military personnel and their families. Thank you for all that you have done.

Allen L. Metheny, of Boalsburg, has been in the Army Reserves for 19 years and is a chief warrant officer three serving with the Forward Support Company, 458th Engineer Battalion in Johnstown. He previously served in Iraq and can be reached at herford144@yahoo.com.