‘Because of the Brave’: Students, area residents commemorate Michigan veterans
When he arrived at the Iraq War Memorial in Island Park, David Chatfield pulled out a cigar from his leather biker jacket.
As the 58-year-old Mount Pleasant resident rolled the cigar over his lips, he stood solemnly. He held off the light wind to light up the stogie on a foggy Veteran’s Day morning.
Chatfield paced slowly, circling the statue and stopping every few steps to release the smoke into the air, as he does once a month. As an American Indian, it’s his way of sending his regards to those who have fallen.
This was his prayer for veterans.
“I lost a lot of friends to war and a lot of my family served time as well,” Chatfield said. “I come here once a month, see everyone who is here on the wall. I’ve learned new names, met new people and seen their names appear onto the wall since they’ve passed. I know so many of these people.”
Thousands across the nation honored veterans in different ways. In Mount Pleasant, two ceremonies were held.
The first was Wednesday night, a dozen students gathered in Kessler Hall to listen to a Korean War veteran speak. On Thursday, Central Michigan University held a ceremony for about 40 people at Warriner Mall.
Marine City junior Janine Jenken stood as a drumline played “Taps” while wearing her father’s dog tags. Her father served in Vietnam and her grandfather in World War II.
“America is the home of the free because of the brave,” she said.
Newaygo resident Bert Geerdink, a Vietnam veteran who served in the Navy from 1965 to 1969, visited Island Park mid-morning.
Geerdink, 64, was stationed on the East Coast of the U.S. He was spit at in Atlanta, Ga.
“There was a lot of hostility toward vets, a lot of students protesting,” he said. “At one time I wasn’t proud of (being a veteran), but I am now. ... I’m fine. I’m alive, unlike these (veterans).”
Bannister resident Sam Sopocy, 63, drove up from southern Gratiot County with his wife Connie to visit the memorial site in Island Park for the first time on Thursday. He met a great friend named Ed Kasnow in the service, who was dating a girl who attended Sopocy’s high school.
Sopocy never imagined meeting another local while serving for one full year in February 1967.
“He was my friend,” Sopocky said, after wiping tears from his eyes as he walked by his name one last time. “We had a lot in common, and I wanted to come and pay my respects.”
Chatfield said every soldier deserves respect for the time each has served, as too many people take the freedoms they died to keep for granted.
“Freedom is hard enough to come by with so much tyranny in the world,” Chatfield said. “Even though I’m not in the service, I understand and respect them, and many more need to do just that. This land was fought hard for all of us, and for no other reason than to be free. Let’s remember that and remember these fine individuals who have dedicated their lives to our safety — to our freedom.”
-Assistant Photo Editor Sean Proctor contributed to this report.
