A Good Soldier Never Forgets

Dear Boo and Bubble,

So much of The Bridge Project seems to focus on Granddaddy Schaefer's experiences and family; or my own life; or, of late, on Captain's heritage through the writings of Joseph Benson Cottrell. But, since tomorrow is Mother's Day, I'm going to deviate a little and brag on someone from Mamaw Mary's side of things.

Even though her family tree didn't have as many branches as Granddaddy's (that bloomed the likes of Mittie, Mattie, Ressie, Jessie, Annie Mae, Wade, Gene, Jamie and all of their offspring), Mamaw Mary's was equally strong. The occupiers of each limb have made, and still do, quite an impression on this world. Mamaw had one sister, Dorothy, with three children - Sandy, Beth and Jay. Growing up, I didn't get to see my Bethany (that was Mamaw's maiden name) cousins very often because they lived in Texas. Jay is no longer here, and until recently, it had been nine years since my last visit with Beth and Sandy in Dallas.

Sometime in a another post, I will share with you the amazing work of Beth and her husband Rodney. But today, I want to focus on Sandy because I find that what he is doing is so noteworthy and unique, it needs to be shared. It certainly reflects the values of compassion for and care of one's fellow man that Mamaw held so dear.

Let me give you a little background. Sandy was raised in West Columbia, Texas, and returned there after a career in the Army to follow in his father's footsteps and open a hardware store. While in the military, Sandy rose to the distinguished rank of Colonel. His service to our country included two tours of duty as a helicopter pilot in the Viet Nam war.

It would be perfectly permissible and understandable for someone like Sandy to retire in peace and leave the memories of war behind - to vacate the arena altogether and focus on his family and personal pursuits. But, he chose instead to never forget the sacrifices that are made by our servicemen and their families. When I last saw Sandy back in Dallas, he was the current president of his American Legion post. He talked about how after 9/11, he became aware of the compensation offered to the victims’ families in the tragedies of the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. The benefit averaged $1.3 million. In his opinion, that was all well and good except that, at the time, the death benefit for a serviceperson killed in the line of duty defending the country was only $12,500. He brought this discrepancy to the attention of his Post and they began barking up the chain of command for the national organization to lobby Congress for an increase. After a time, the effort met with some success. The death benefit increased to $100,000. But, that still wasn’t good enough. Sandy persuaded his post to take out life insurance policies of $250,000 on each service member living in their district for as long as that person remained on active duty.

Since then, Sandy has turned his focus to the condition of and recognition for our country's veterans.

He initiated a program within the Post where veterans in the community can request the installation of permanent tubes in their yards. On every Veterans' Day, Memorial Day and 4th of July, an American flag and the flag representing the veteran's branch of service are placed in the tubes so that people will know specifically who to thank with a salute as they pass by.

Recently, a nursing home facility in West Columbia closed and all of its patients were moved elsewhere. Not long after Sandy heard about it, he began the process of negotiating its purchase. With his own money, he bought the entire campus and is refurbishing it to establish a place for homeless veterans. He currently has two residents with availability for many more as the renovations continue.

When I learned all of this, my heart just simply swelled with pride.....and, I can only imagine how eternally proud Mamaw Mary must be that this branch of her family tree is doing all he can to make this world a better place for others.