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Veteran brings meaning to day for students
  
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By Nicole Chillino
When retired United States Army Col. Stephen Shambach was young, he did not know what a veteran was.
While the children at Monument Academy are likely more familiar with the term than he was, Shambach talked to them on Nov. 11 about what being a veteran has come to mean to him and how the values and virtues the students are taught at the school will serve them regardless of whether they become members of the military or remain civilians.
He said he remembers watching a Veterans Day parade when he was growing up and seeing one of his teachers was in an Army unit passing by him.
“I didn’t understand how one of my teachers, who taught me, was wearing a military uniform,” he said. He later learned his teacher was a reserve soldier.
Since that time, he has learned the Army is not just the infantry, but also includes jobs seen in all communities, including lawyers, nurses and cooks.
“A veteran is someone who served in the military and is no longer in the military,” Shambach explained to the students.
He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1974, where he had entered in 1969 to become an officer. At the time he entered the academy, the Vietnam War was ongoing, but by the time Shambach graduated, the war was over.
He said in looking at Monument Academy’s core virtues, respect is one that sticks out as important to both the students as they grow up and military personnel.
Shambach said growing up, he learned to respect people who are different from him. He was often teased because he was not from a well-to-do family and he wore hand-me-down clothes.
In the Army, he learned how to treat everyone the same and stand up for people who were made fun of.
When he was in charge of a battalion, a morning run called for him to teach respect to some of the troops. The run took the battalion by support people, those who drive trucks, cooks and maintenance people, to whom the soldiers yelled out insults.
“As we ran by, I could see the looks on the faces of the soldiers in formation, men and women who looked embarrassed and felt put down,” Shambach said. “I was furious.”
He later confronted the leaders of the formation about the behavior. He questioned what kind of support the leaders could expect from those the soldiers had insulted.
It took a long time to change the attitude toward support personnel.
“You should never put someone down,” he said.
When soldiers returned from Vietnam, they were not respected by many people, he said. Soldiers could not wear their uniforms because they would be cursed, spit upon and attacked.
He said what those who were spreading anti-war sentiments did not understand is that no one hates war more than those who fight in them. No one is closer to atrocities like losing a friend in battle, but they also understand someone has to be prepared to fight and defend the country.
“You have heard it said that freedom isn’t free, and it isn’t,” Shambach said.
The country has lost more than one million soldiers in battles fought by American soldiers.
He said it is important to respect and honor those who serve the country.
While the children at Monument Academy are likely more familiar with the term than he was, Shambach talked to them on Nov. 11 about what being a veteran has come to mean to him and how the values and virtues the students are taught at the school will serve them regardless of whether they become members of the military or remain civilians.
He said he remembers watching a Veterans Day parade when he was growing up and seeing one of his teachers was in an Army unit passing by him.
“I didn’t understand how one of my teachers, who taught me, was wearing a military uniform,” he said. He later learned his teacher was a reserve soldier.
Since that time, he has learned the Army is not just the infantry, but also includes jobs seen in all communities, including lawyers, nurses and cooks.
“A veteran is someone who served in the military and is no longer in the military,” Shambach explained to the students.
He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1974, where he had entered in 1969 to become an officer. At the time he entered the academy, the Vietnam War was ongoing, but by the time Shambach graduated, the war was over.
He said in looking at Monument Academy’s core virtues, respect is one that sticks out as important to both the students as they grow up and military personnel.
Shambach said growing up, he learned to respect people who are different from him. He was often teased because he was not from a well-to-do family and he wore hand-me-down clothes.
In the Army, he learned how to treat everyone the same and stand up for people who were made fun of.
When he was in charge of a battalion, a morning run called for him to teach respect to some of the troops. The run took the battalion by support people, those who drive trucks, cooks and maintenance people, to whom the soldiers yelled out insults.
“As we ran by, I could see the looks on the faces of the soldiers in formation, men and women who looked embarrassed and felt put down,” Shambach said. “I was furious.”
He later confronted the leaders of the formation about the behavior. He questioned what kind of support the leaders could expect from those the soldiers had insulted.
It took a long time to change the attitude toward support personnel.
“You should never put someone down,” he said.
When soldiers returned from Vietnam, they were not respected by many people, he said. Soldiers could not wear their uniforms because they would be cursed, spit upon and attacked.
He said what those who were spreading anti-war sentiments did not understand is that no one hates war more than those who fight in them. No one is closer to atrocities like losing a friend in battle, but they also understand someone has to be prepared to fight and defend the country.
“You have heard it said that freedom isn’t free, and it isn’t,” Shambach said.
The country has lost more than one million soldiers in battles fought by American soldiers.
He said it is important to respect and honor those who serve the country.
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