STAR CITY – Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here I am; send me.
Retired U.S Army Lieutenant Colonel George Mayo said that verse, from Isaiah, was one of two scriptures that encapsulates what it means to be a citizen soldier.
The second comes from 2 Timothy.
I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.
For many enlisted, Mayo said Monday during Star City’s Memorial Day gathering at St. Mary’s Church, the race ended on a foreign battlefield.
“This mindset is the foundation every soldier has. No matter whether in the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force or Coast Guard, it’s no coincidence that every branch of the service begins with U.S. – us,” he said. “It’s us that builds the ranks. It’s us that makes the ultimate sacrifices to ensure freedom for us all. On this day, we honor those who made that ultimate sacrifice.”
In addition to Mayo, the program featured Retired Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Joe Summers, who signed up for a four-year enlistment in 1955 as “a naive 18-year old.”
“When I came out of the Navy, I was a mature adult,” he said.
After nine years spent rising the ranks at the Morgantown Glass Factory, Summers returned to college, which led him to a position as a veterans coordinator at WVU. In that role, he would assist thousands of service members in bettering their lives through the G.I. Bill.
He retired in 1997 and was inducted into WVU’s Student Life Hall of Fame in 2004.
Summers credits his time in the Navy for the motivation.
“After my tour in the Navy, I knew then and know today, I love the USA. It’s the greatest place on the face of the earth. I’m proud to be an American,” he said. “I want to thank all the veterans for what they did for us.”
The keynote speakers concluded with Christopher Lindsay, who, as a young man, envisioned a military career as a Navy Seal.
His path ultimately led him to nursing and the Air Force’s Critical Care Air Transport Team, which he describes as “an ICU at 30,000 feet.”
“That experience took me from the hills of West Virginia to officer training school in Alabama, then to Travis Air Force Base, and, eventually, to southern Afghanistan,” Lindsay said.
“Serving on that team was one of the most meaningful experiences of my life. It was rewarding, but also a sobering reminder of what military medicine did in time of conflict. There are names of sailors, soldiers, airmen and marines that I carry with me to this day. Brave men and women who didn’t make it home. So today, we pause to remember them.”
Lindsay fell quiet for a moment to compose himself, before concluding the day’s remarks where they started, referencing John 15:13.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
The event was emceed by former Star City Mayor, and Air Force veteran, Bob Musick, and featured soloist Al Anderson, an Army veteran.
Retired Air Force Colonel Father John McDonough, pastor of St. Mary’s, offered the invocation.
