By Nate LaMar

Henry County resident

You may know where you were on Nov. 22, 1963, when you first learned that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. More of you know where you were on Sept. 11, 2001, when our country was struck by terrorism. How many of you know where you were on Nov. 9, 1989?

A few days ago, we marked the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall, which led to its eventual fall. On that date, we saw the beginning of the end of the Cold War.

On Nov. 9, 1989, Springport farmer Bob Cedras was serving with the U.S. Army’s Berlin Brigade. Enlisted as a military policeman, he had earlier guarded infamous Nazi official Rudolf Hess, during his life sentence in Berlin’s Spandau Prison.

Marine Corps veteran Esther Trevino, a Mexican immigrant, now lives in Spiceland. She was with her squadron at the Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin, Calif.

Air Force Vietnam veteran Mike Lykens of Blountsville is now Stony Creek Township trustee. He was at work at Commercial Vinyls as plant controller. He felt this meant freedom for a lot of Eastern European countries that had not had that feeling for many years.

Army veteran Carolyn (Appleby) Mills was watching the news at her home. Seeing that symbol of the fears of her generation fall was an emotional experience. She grew up in a world where there were drills to go to the fall-out shelters at Cowan Elementary School.

Marine Corps veteran Darvin McGowan of Carthage was attending Ball State University. He remembers seeing all the people on the wall and wondering how they were feeling. He thought they must have felt elated and fearful at the same time. For so many years, these countrymen were enemies, and for many, they probably weren’t sure why. He wondered, “would these people trust the other side?”

Navy Vietnam veteran Mike Oldham, originally from Pendleton, was at work at the former Naval Avionics Center in Indianapolis. He was elated to hear the news of the opening of the Berlin Wall. He remembers thinking how fortunate we were as a nation to have President Reagan, who had the courage and conviction to stand up to the Soviet Communist regime and demand, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”

Halfway through the Field Artillery officers’ course at Fort Sill, Okla., I had flown to Chicago for a Veterans Day long weekend rendezvous with my parents, brother, and one of our exchange students. Watching the events from Berlin on our hotel room TV, the Cold War doctrine of NATO vs. the Warsaw Pact, which we had learned at West Point and now at Field Artillery School, was turned upside down overnight.

The world changed. We adapted. As defenders of freedom, whether Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps or Coast Guard, we had to. Just as the World War II generation did, many of us returned home to our communities determined to make them better. In fact, by 1975, over 70 percent of members of Congress were veterans. Today, many of our communities are crying out for leadership. Now less than 24 percent of members of Congress are veterans. Veterans, after joining our armed forces, many of you now pride yourselves in not being “joiners” in your community. Please don’t be selfish with your time and talents. Your community needs you, just as your country needed you. Please get involved and lead in your community.

The world changed again on Sept. 11, 2001, and we adapted. I’m sure the world will change in a major way again in our lifetimes. John 15:13 says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” For their willingness to adapt to change to keep us free and, above all, for their willingness to lay down their lives for you, thank a veteran today.

Nate LaMar, an international businessman, also serves as president of Henry County Council and military academy liaison officer (West Point recruiter) for eastern Indiana.