Strive to live worthy of the sacrifice our Veterans have made

The following guest editorial is excerpted from a speech delivered by Gold Star Father Patrick M. Pace of Brawley, Calif. at the Royal High School Veterans Day Assembly last Friday. It is fitting for this day on which we all honor our veterans.

As we approach Veterans' Day, I would like to share some few words of tribute, praise and gratitude for all of those who have served us. In truth, I have been deeply affected by those who have served.

The names of my two sons are inscribed on the granite wall in my town, having served in the Army.

Our cousin served in Viet Nam. He earned the bronze star for disarming a bomb.

My father-in-law was in the Air Force during the Korean War.

During World War II, my uncle was killed in the Philippines returning with General MacArthur. I never really understood my grandmother's gold star, until they gave me one...and now I do.

Both of my grandfathers served in World War I. One of them left a wife, a child and a ranch to lead the mules pulling the caissons and field artillery behind the awful trenches in France.

My wife's ancestors served in the Civil War in that great effort to preserve the Union.

One of my great-great grandfathers served in the U.S. Army of the West in the Mormon Battalion from 1846 to 1847.

In the War of 1812, one of my triple great grandfathers was a Captain in the Light Horse Cavalry serving with the Tennessee Volunteers under General Andrew Jackson.

We also have ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War, truly citizen soldiers who sacrificed nearly all for an idea, unique at its time, that man could live free governing himself with no need for a king or dictator.

I share these stories of the veterans in my family not because my family is special but rather because my family is not special. The stories of all of our veterans are the story of the American family.

Our veterans come from every village, town, and city across our nation. They come from every creed, color, race, religion, ethnicity ... all bound together by a common sense of duty, of love of country, of brotherhood, of a cause greater than themselves.

One statesman put it that "America's Veterans have served their country with the belief that democracy and freedom are ideals to be upheld around the world."

As we think about those who are willing to live a life of such service, I would like to recognize a special guest who is here today, Mrs. Susan Fazzari. She and her husband are friends of ours.

They are from Walla Walla. Mr. Fazzari is a high school athletic director, and could not be here today. Mrs. Fazzari is a veterinarian, so she is actually Dr. Fazzari, and we are glad that she is here.

The Fazzaris are parents of several outstanding children. Let me tell you about one of their sons, Matt. He was active in high school, a good student and athlete. He married his high school sweetheart and they have two of the cutest little sons.

When he graduated from Gonzaga, he was commissioned as a 2nd LT in the U.S. Army and went off to flight school. He finished top of his class as a Kiowa helicopter pilot.

My own sons were Army officers. In 2005, they earned their commissions upon graduation from the United States Military Academy at West Point.

The younger son, Rick, became an infantry officer and served as a platoon leader for nearly three years, fifteen months of which he led two different platoons in Iraq.

The older son, Scott, like Matt, went to flight school and he, too, became a Kiowa pilot. He served two tours in Iraq. In 2011, he was a captain and commander of an Air Cavalry Troop of attack helicopters, which deployed to Afghanistan.

In the late spring of 2012, the Taliban was quite active. Scott's Troop was short of pilots, which placed quite a burden on the few pilots left. Finally a reinforcement pilot from the States was assigned to their unit, 1st Lt. Matt Fazzari.

On June 6, 2012, they were flying a routine patrol with another helicopter. The radio reported that an infantry unit had been dispatched to quell an attack. It moved right into a fierce ambush. Those soldiers began to take much fire and sustain casualties.

That was when Scott and Matt and their fellow helicopter crews were sent to rescue those troops on the ground. As they reached the battle scene, Matt, the kid from Walla Walla, took control of the helicopter.

Scott, the kid from Brawley, took control of the battle. He ordered the soldiers on the ground below to stand down, as the two helicopters made pass after pass at the enemy, laying down suppressive fire so the infantry could escape from the ambush.

Unfortunately, on the fourth pass, Scott and Matt's helicopter was struck by machine gun fire. They tried to gain altitude so they could auto-rotate down, but such was not to be.

They plummeted to the earth below, becoming what the soldiers call Fallen Angels.

Thankfully only a few of our military make the ultimate sacrifice, as did Matt and Scott. As Lincoln put it, they "gave the last full measure of devotion."

All of those who serve do so at a great sacrifice and are devoted to a cause greater than themselves. I think that is what makes them so special and worthy of our honor and respect.

There is a place in the West Point Library with a ring from each class. By tradition, the first member of a class to die leaves his or her ring to the school to be forever a part of the ring exhibit in the library.

Scott's roommate Greg Washington's girlfriend, Emily Perez, was a pretty cadet who ran track and graduated from Westpoint in civil engineering. Emily went into a noncombat branch, Medical Services. She was going to be a hospital administrator.

In 2006, Emily deployed to Iraq to help run a hospital. One day she left to lead a convoy of wounded soldiers into that hospital. She was in the lead Humvee when it hit an IED.

Emily, the hospital administrator, was the first casualty of the Class of 2005. Her ring now sits in the West Point Library representing her class.

In the military no one is truly ever safe. All are at risk, from foot soldier to sailor to sapper to cook to sniper to tanker to clerk to pilot. We sleep peacefully because they are always there.

Our thanks should be in word and deed. We should live worthy of the sacrifice our Veterans have made for us.

We should remember them always, not just on Veterans' Day. May we not forget to pray for our Veterans and for our troops. May God continue to bless America and our Veterans.