INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — An intimate crowd of veterans, their families and community members gathered Monday morning at Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum for a Memorial Day salute.
In the crowd was Roger Hands, an Army helicopter pilot, who served in the Vietnam War.
Alzheimer’s may have taken much of his memory, but his body remembers the feelings of war like it was yesterday.
“Remembering a lot of things, and sometimes the things you don’t want to remember is not always easy,” said Hands. “I’m not overly proud of my service simply because of my feelings towards war. I feel like it comes too easy and it’s so devastating when it comes.”
Hands enlisted in Army flight school in order to become aviator. He did not want to be on the ground, carrying weapons and fighting. Even then, he knew the scars war would leave.
“One likes to protect themselves as best you can,” said Hands. “I’m a promoter of peace, not war. Although I’ve been there — I’ve seen it. I’ve been shot at. Fortunately, not wounded, but I’ve carried the bodies of those who were killed, too, in my aircraft. So, war sucks. Plain and simple.”
On this Memorial Day, Hands is thinking about the bodies he carried. He believes it is only a speck in fate that he is still here and they are not.
It is a sentiment Navy veteran, Jim Griffin, understands as well.
“Grateful for the people who made it possible for us,” said Griffin.
President Truman often taught that liberty takes sacrifice, but Hands hopes the world can learn to love so that it does not come at the expense of those we love.
“You know, we have the greatest military in the world, but that should mean we should be the most forgiving,” said Hands. “But I do know that I love this country.”
—
KSHB 41 anchor/reporter JuYeon Kim covers agricultural issues and the fentanyl crisis. Share your story idea with JuYeon.