Crowd fills building to say thanks

WASILLA — A tearful Tracy Yates stood in a cold, driving wind with her hand over her heart as the three-volley salute ricocheted through the silence.

While she was alone outside the Mat-Su Convention and Visitors Bureau, inside the small building off the Parks Highway was packed for Wednesday’s Veterans Day ceremony.

The tears and salute were “for everyone who served; my family,” Yates said. “I’m very emotional.”

Also emotional was Dave Glenn, owner of Grasshopper Aviation and a pilot for Veterans Aviation Outreach, which put on the service.

After enlisting and serving in Vietnam, Glenn said he wasn’t prepared for the reception he received upon returning from war.

“There I am, very proud of my friends and my service,” he said. “Then I got home to find out people were calling me a baby killer. So, I laid low for a long time. Then, about four or five months ago, I was at Home Depot and I had on my 101st Airborne hat. A young fellow walks up and says, “Man, I really like your hat. I really, really like your hat.’ I said, ‘You know, son, I’ve been waiting 46 years to hear that — 46 years.’ So, if you see (a veteran), you tell him thanks.”

One of the dozens to pack the visitors center Wednesday to give Glenn and other Valley veterans his thanks was Steve Sweet, director of the Wasilla Veterans Center.

The biting cold and brisk winds may have moved the ceremony from in front of the Wall of Honor, but Sweet wasn’t surprised the event was standing room only.

“I’ve been here for 15 years, and this is the first time in all these years I’ve seen (the Veterans Day ceremony) inside,” he said. “But, we’re Valley vets. We adapt and overcome.”

Sweet, a lieutenant colonel in the Alaska National Guard and former serviceman in the Navy and Air Force, said events like Wednesday’s are crucial for keeping the sacrifices of those in the armed forces fresh in people’s memories.

“I work with a lot of Vietnam vets and I remember when I was in (the service), even though I wasn’t physically in Vietnam, I remember how our country felt,” he said. “For Glenn to say that was very touching … and it’s a real honor anytime you can serve your nation.”

The timing of the Nov. 5 Fort Hood, Texas, shootings made this year’s Veterans Day a more somber event, said Maurice Bailey, a Valley veteran and founder of Veterans Aviation Outreach. Army psychiatrist Maj. Nadil Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of first-degree murder for the shooting rampage that left 13 people dead. Of those 13, 12 were service men and women.

“I guess I thought about the shallowness of it all,” Bailey said of the attack. “Mostly, I’ve also thought about how they all came together afterwards, like we always do. The way they’ve come together has been something to see. It’s like nothing I’ve seen in my lifetime, and I’m 70 years old. I’ve bee glued to the television. The veteran community — there’s no comparison.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.