Freedom's Responsibilities

Foreword by FOX News Channel’s Brit Hume

When TIME magazine was deciding whom to name as person of the century, the choice to me seemed obvious—the American soldier. No military force in history has compiled so striking a record over a century’s time. And no nation on earth has ever left war dead in so many  places where not one went for purpose of conquest. Think of it: In World War I, it was America to the rescue of its beleaguered European allies, and the same in World War II. In each case, American fighting forces went in harm’s way, fought and died and, mostly, came home. Those that did not come home after World War II stayed for one purpose—the protection of nations they had defeated and liberated from new threats to their freedom. And think of  Japan, where an American general, Douglas MacArthur, ruled that occupied and devastated nation after the war, and left it with a legacy of democracy and freedom. Even in Vietnam, the United States, its critics to the contrary, did not fight for any imperial design, but to avert the takeover of that country by totalitarian forces. The record is clear for all to see. American soldiers, airmen and marines fight as liberators and protectors, not as conquerors. This is the burden our military families have borne, not just for their own country but for the world.

For the final installment of our Democracy in America series, American Profile interviewed four generations of military veterans about the responsibility they assumed by serving their country.

"In a heartbeat"

As Boyd D. Spiker reads from his World War II diary, the written words jostle his memory about nitty-gritty details, such as weather and dates. He doesn’t need words, though, for emotional memories. His feelings of patriotism and love for his fellow soldiers are vivid 60 years later.

"I just didn’t want to give up our way of life. Hitler had to be stopped," says Spiker, 81, of Tooele, Utah (pop. 22,502). "Whatever I could do, I wanted to do."

In August 1942, the 19-year-old was drafted into the Army. At the time he was building Liberty cargo ships at Bethlehem Steel Co. in Sparrows Point, Md. Always a hard worker, Spiker had grown up one of 10 children of sharecroppers in the Shenandoah Valley in Strasburg, Va. (pop. 4,017).

He was prepared to serve immediately, but his boss convinced him to take a deferment to continue building ships, equally vital to winning the war. Six months later, Spiker couldn’t be talked into staying stateside any longer.

"I just felt it was my job. My parents said, ‘Son, you are the one who has to live with this the rest of your life. You’ll have to make this decision alone.’"

Spiker never regretted his decision. In September 1944, he landed with Company B, 328th Infantry Regiment, on Utah Beach as part of the last wave of American soldiers sent to drive the Germans out of France. He served combat duty on the front lines for 67 days until being wounded.

"We were scared to death, and anyone else who tells you the truth would tell you the same thing," he says. Spiker recalls clasping hands with soldiers and saying the Lord’s Prayer before dangerous missions. His voice breaks as he remembers his buddies who didn’t make it home.

"Some things still hurt after all these years."

When he returned home, Spiker held his 8-month-old son, Boyd David Spiker Jr., for the first time. He and his bride, Lil, were married while he was on furlough before shipping overseas.

Spiker’s service to his country didn’t end when he packed away his uniform. In 1962, he went to work as a supervisor at Tooele Army Depot where he made a habit of looking for ways to save the government money. If an inspector found a minute flaw in optical glass used for binoculars and other instruments, the glass was scrapped. Spiker began storing the damaged glass until he could devise a better system. He located a $25,000 machine to grind the scratches and salvage the glass.

He treasures a letter from President Jimmy Carter, who commended him for saving the government $780,000.

"I saved the government more money than they paid me over a lifetime," Spiker says matter-of-factly. He also never accepted any pension for military service.

"I’m proud of that and to have served," he says. "If needed, I’d do it again in a heartbeat."

Still serving

At 63, Joe Potter, a retired Vietnam-era fighter pilot, once again proudly wears a military uniform and heads a new mission—as deputy commanding general of the American Volunteer Reserve (AVR), an army of volunteers who provide support with homeland security and defense and military burial honors.

"When I heard about the organization, immediately I knew that there was a niche where my duty might come in handy," says Potter, of Colorado Springs, Colo.

The highly decorated Air Force colonel served 28 years, including three tours of duty in Vietnam. He flew more than 400 combat missions before retiring in 1991.

Today, he works full time—all unpaid—from a donated office in Colorado Springs as commander of the AVR’s 8th Brigade, a six-state region that aligns with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Brig. Gen. Michael Teilmann founded the AVR after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, for the many retired military veterans who longed to use their training to serve their country. Potter notes that the Air Force has the Civil Air Patrol for its uniformed service organization and the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy have the Coast Guard Auxiliary. The Army didn’t have a uniformed service organization until AVR.

Volunteers wear Army uniforms with distinctive AVR brass and shoulder patches. A primary mission is providing military honors at the funerals of veterans.

"The military is stretched too thin and can cover only about 10 percent of funerals," Potter says. "We’re trying to pick up the slack."

Volunteers, who also include citizen patriots, are trained to serve as first responders in emergencies and to assist with matters of defense and homeland security.

"The need I feel to serve is almost overwhelming," Potter says. "In my generation, practically everyone came from a military background because of World War II. Dads and uncles served.

"This war on terrorism, it’s not like World War II," he adds. "You’re on the front lines all the time."

A necessary and honorable duty

Diana Robertshaw, 24, didn’t need to write letters home to her mother while serving as a combat medic in Iraq. Her mother, Becky Robertshaw, 48, served right beside her.

That wasn’t the plan when Diana, a junior at Grand Rapids (Minn.) High School, asked her mom to accompany her to talk to the National Guard recruiter in June 1997. Diana needed to think about it. Becky had been thinking about it for 20 years, ever since she had served as an air traffic controller with the Army in the 1970s. She signed up on the spot.

"I’d taken a 20-year break to be a mom,’" says Becky of Bovey, Minn. (pop. 662), who met her husband, James, in the military. "I told the recruiter, ‘You know, I’d like to go back. This is something I could do. I had been trained to do. Somebody’s got to do it, and why not me?’"

Diana enlisted the next year, which didn’t surprise her family. At age 14, Diana volunteered for a church medical mission to Honduras, and the experience reaffirmed her decision to become a nurse or doctor. She worked with children, cleaning lice from their hair, and helped fit eyeglasses for older patients.

"I’d go to bed at night and think, ‘I didn’t do anything for myself today.’ It felt so good. I knew that’s the way I wanted to live. Serving others is a lifestyle."

The Robertshaws trained together with the Army National Guard’s 724th Combat Engineer Battalion and were even roommates at Fort McCoy, Wis. In May 2003, they were sent to Iraq.

Sgt. Becky Robertshaw says her age and experience were advantages as she found herself counseling younger soldiers.

"When you’re older, it’s harder physically, but you’ve endured more things and you bring a lot of wisdom." She helped build and clear roads and inspect canals, schools and power plants. Spec. 4 Diana Robertshaw was one of the medics who accompanied them.

Diana says the Iraqi people she encountered were so grateful for help from Americans.

"I worked in their villages and helped take care of their babies and old people. I ate in their houses and loved these people," she says.

The Robertshaws returned home in April. Diana, who works as a licensed practical nurse with hospice and cancer patients at St. Luke’s Hospital in Duluth, Minn., plans to resume her schooling to become a registered nurse. Becky works in the shipping department for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in Grand Rapids.

Both agree it was a sacrifice to dedicate a year of service to their country, but also a necessary and honorable duty.

"I think everybody should serve," Becky says. "We have so much because of all the soldiers—from the Revolutionary War on—who went before us."

Marti Attoun is a frequent contributor to American Profile.

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