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Hernando Today

A Day Of Thanks

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By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: November 12, 2008

HERNANDO BEACH - In a crowd of black and white VFW uniforms, Jessica Garrett stood out in her purple satin blouse, knee-length skirt and patent-leather pumps.
When Garrett finished speaking, everyone else stood up.
Under a cloudless sky Tuesday during a Veterans Day ceremony at VFW Post 9236 on Shoal Line Boulevard, the 17-year-old Nature Coast Technical High School senior read the essay that won her the post's Voice of Democracy scholarship.
"The men and women of the United States armed forces, through years of service and sacrifice — many times through the ultimate sacrifice — have given the young people of this country the greatest gift they will ever receive: freedom," Garrett said. "Without these dedicated Americans, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights would simply be words on a page, and life as we know it would not exist."
As a westerly wind whipped the flags of the armed services branches flying overhead and blew the leaves of a memorial wreath hanging on a white cross nearby, Garrett tried to convey what generations of military personnel serving through times of conflict and peace mean to her.
Garrett, who said she hopes to wind up at George Washington University to major in broadcast journalism, talked in her essay about the "sacrifices," the "lost lives, life-changing injuries and the pain and struggle of military families."
"The price is staggering," she said. "Yet our service members continue to serve, continue to protect our country, and continue to risk their lives for an ideal, for millions of people they will never meet, for me."
"Though we may not fully understand the motivation and the need for war, we know that these brave American men and women have answered the call to protect all of us," she said. "This alone should inspire the rest of us to live better lives, to continually attempt to build and support a country worthy of their efforts."
The crowd of about 80 rose to its feet. Afterward, Dee Mills of Masaryktown walked up to Garrett. Mills lost her son, Marine Sgt. Lea Mills, two years ago to a roadside bomb in Iraq.
"You did an amazing job," Mills said, and then hugged Garrett for a long time.
The essay, Mills said later, "said everything."
Post officials during the ceremony also recognized the winner of its Patriots Pen scholarship, Kelsey Kolasa of Challenger K-8 School.
Ret. Air Force Major Gen. Monroe T. Smith of Weeki Wachee, who also spoke during the ceremony, said young people are a powerful motivator for military men and women.
"They're what this country is all about," he said.
Among the audience members was 87-year-old Robert Rose. Rose didn't get gussied up in uniform for the ceremony, opting instead for a gray Tampa Bay Buccaneers sweatshirt. His white baseball cap, emblazoned with the words "Forest Glenn," advertised the mobile home park on Osowaw Boulevard where the World War II veteran now lives.
A cane leaning against Rose's chair was a tip-off of his personal sacrifices. He served in the Army's 92nd Infantry Division and was permanently disabled when mortar fragments shredded his legs in Italy in 1944.
Rose marveled at Garrett's words.
"Seeing these young people and their participation, you know that the world is all right," he said.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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