The story of two heroes begins four years ago, in the US Army headquarters in a small town in Germany. A young solider was assigned the duty of sitting at the reception desk, greeting visitors as they arrived. It was a small town, and it was rare to have visitors, and so he sat, day after day.
One day, his solitude was interrupted when an old woman, walked into the building and stood in front of his desk, waiting for him to acknowledge her. When he did, she said haltingly, in very broken English, “My boyfriend is dead”.
Not quite sure why she was telling him this, the solider expressed his sympathy and waited. The old women, lifting a heavy, and extremely old briefcase onto the desk, continued: “He wanted me to bring this here”
The solider took the briefcase, and thanked her politely. He started to place it on the floor, planning to put it in the trash as soon as she left. But the old woman did not move. It was clear, she expected him to open the briefcase, and look inside. And so he did. He intended to shuffle a few papers, pretend to be interested, and send her on her way.
As he looked through the papers, something caught his eye, and he began to read the faded documents inside the tattered briefcase. He very quickly realized, he was looking the military records, of an extraordinary solider. During his career Technical Sergent, Leonard Wolf, US Air force, Retired, had earned The Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with Seven Oak Clusters, and two Purple Hearts.
The solider knew, that SMSGT Leonard Wolf deserved to be buried, in a hero’s grave at Arlington National Cemtary. The problem was how to get him there. If he had died, while in the Air Force, the government would have shipped his body home. But at 84, Leonard was long past his days in the miliary. With a German girlfriend and no other immediate family to negotiate with the military, and pay the cost of sending his body home, there didn’t seem to be any way to bring him home.
The solider had two choices, he could have done the easy thing – explain to the old woman there was nothing he could do. Or he could do the right thing, and find a way to send SMSGT Wolf home. He chose the latter, and on his day off he went home with the old woman, and sorted through papers and records and scraps of paper till he found contact information for some of the Sergent’s distant family in the US. It took a few days, but he connected with one of Leonard’s nephews and convinced him to come to Germany and sort through the red tape and pay the expense required to bring his uncle home.
Four years ago, as I tossed a handful of dirt of my Uncle Lenny’s grave and listened to the 21 Gun salute he had earned, I knew there were two heroes being honored that day. The first was my Uncle Lenny whose extraordinary military service changed the lives of so many people. The second was a young solider, who’s name I will never know. When given a choice, he made a decision to do the right thing instead of the easy thing. His tenacity made is possible for us to honor my uncle Lenny properly.
And so, as we celebrate Memorial Day, and honor the soliders who died or were injured in battle, remember the other heroes as well. Remember the ordinary people, who make choices every day to do the right thing instead of the easy thing. Honor them, by your actions, not your words.
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