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Good Shepherd Academy team wins Young Scholars competition

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LCCC holds diversity film discussion

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; One of the saddest things for me to hear is a trumpeter playing taps at a veterans ceremony or funeral.</p><p>The first time I heard taps played was at a Veterans Day ceremony at the Shawnee Cemetery along Mountain Road in Plymouth many years back.</p><p>My dad would take me to that ceremony every year because he felt it was imperative to honor veterans for all they did for our country.</p><p>My dad knew first-hand what it meant to fight for your country. Like so many others, he went to battle to protect our liberty. He risked his life to preserve our freedom. Like all veterans, he did it without question. He did it because he felt it was his duty as an American.</p><p>I&#8217;ve told my dad&#8217;s story before &#8212; how he hit a beach in northern France in World War II, ran up a hill, engaged the enemy, stepped on a landmine and ended up in an Army MASH unit without his right leg.</p><p>William O&#8217;Boyle was barely 20 years old when it happened. He returned home to resume his life and never let what happened get him down. He went to work, he married, he volunteered in his community, he served several service organizations and he never complained.</p><p>When they talk about the Greatest Generation, I would put guys like my dad at the top of the list &#8212; right there with all veterans.</p><p>I attended the Veterans Day ceremony Thursday at the VA Medical Center. All around me were veterans. Many wore the scars of war &#8212; some visible on the outside, others hidden inside.</p><p>You could see the pride in their eyes. You could see how they feel about their country and their flag and the red white and blue blood that flows through their patriotic bodies.</p><p>These men and women are, indeed, a special breed. Only they know what it&#8217;s like to go into battle, to face the enemy and to stare death in the face.</p><p>They know why they had to do what they did.</p><p>For non-veterans, it&#8217;s difficult to understand what it takes to put that uniform on, to strap that gun on your back and to go with your unit to take that hill, secure that location or stop that advance. Veterans of war know what it&#8217;s like to be in a jungle fighting an invisible enemy that could strike at any minute. They know what it&#8217;s like to cope with the reality of knowing their time could be now.</p><p>After Thursday&#8217;s ceremony, I walked through the VA Medical Center and made sure to say hello to every veteran I could find and to thank him or her for their service.</p><p>At VA hospitals like the one on the hill above the Wyoming Valley Mall, heroes really do walk the halls. Some of them travel in wheelchairs. Others can only lie in bed.</p><p>These are my heroes. They always have been &#8212; ever since my dad instilled in me the importance of honoring and respecting veterans of all wars.</p><p>That&#8217;s why I never complained when he took me to veterans ceremonies. That&#8217;s why I stood at attention next to him and listened to the speeches. That&#8217;s why, like him, I loudly recited the Pledge of Allegiance.</p><p>Patriotism needs to be nurtured &#8212; not just on Veterans Day, but every day. An American flag flies outside my front door every day. And veterans and their families are always in my prayers.</p><p>It&#8217;s easy for me because of where I came from. My dad set the perfect example. We must find a way to instill patriotic pride in those who haven&#8217;t had the good fortune of having a war hero as a role mode.</p><p>Whether it be a school assembly or a Veterans Day ceremony, we should all make it a point to participate.</p><p>I find the best way to constantly re-charge my patriotism is to stop a veteran when I see one and say, &#8220;Thank you for your service.&#8221;</p><p>If not for our veterans, nothing else would be possible.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Bill O&#8217;Boyle Sr. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_Bill-O-Boyle-Sr.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bill O&#8217;Boyle Sr. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_Oboyle_Bill-2-1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Bill O&#8217;Boyle </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_Oboyle_Bill-2-1-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Bill O&#8217;Boyle </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle, or email at boboyle@www.timesleader.com.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Beyond the Byline: Take time to thank veterans for their service