We should all thank our veterans

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, November 11, 2026

By Larry Whiteley/Columnist

He came back from war almost 60 years ago. He never wanted to smell gun smoke again. He never wanted to see blood staining the ground again. He never shared his stories, but they stayed in his heart and mind.

Sometimes, he could still hear the sounds of bombs exploding, the whir of helicopter blades and tanks, and he would remember. He awoke some nights to the screaming of wounded buddies. He kept it all hidden in his mind.

He felt guilty because he got to come home, raise a family, and have a good life. So many of his buddies did not. It even bothered him at times that he escaped with no visible scars. He had scars, but they were hidden.

One of his sons got into deer hunting with friends. He told his dad how much he enjoyed it and that it was not just about shooting a deer. It was about all the special moments in the woods, whether he got a deer or not. He made excuses each time. But one day, he saw the disappointment on his grandkids’ faces. “Okay,” he said. He would do this for them.

The morning of the hunt, he got up and put on the camouflage hunting clothes his son had bought him. As he waited, he tried to think about making good memories, not the bad ones that had crowded his mind for all these years.

Headlights shone through the window. He went out the door into the dark. “You’re going to love it, Papa,” a grandchild said. He sighed. “I will do my best”.

They got there, and the Grandkids went off to their tree stands. His son took his dad to a ground blind. He felt it would be safer than having him climb a tree with a gun when he had never done that. He didn’t know Dad had done that long ago in another country.

He wished his dad good luck and went off to his own treestand. As he sat there, the sun started peeking through the trees. The sky was beautiful. Birds were fluttering from limb to limb. A fox came walking through. Squirrels were digging in the dry leaves. His first thought was that it sounded like the enemy advancing on his position. He dismissed that thought and enjoyed watching them.

The field could have reminded him of battlefields, but it didn’t. The shots he heard in the distance could have put him on alert for advancing enemy soldiers, but they didn’t.

In this special moment, he talked to God. He asked forgiveness for not thanking him long ago for bringing him safely back home. He also thanked Him for creating all the beauty of nature that surrounded him that morning. He was wiping tears from his eyes when he saw something in the field.

The buck had his nose down, following the scent of a doe. He remembered everything his son had told him. He put the deer in the crosshairs. His heart raced as he clicked the safety off. Gun smoke drifted through the air.

Blood was on the field that morning. The son joined his father. They hugged. The tears flowed. The grandsons joined them. They all dropped to their knees, put their hands on the buck, and bowed their heads to honor it for giving its life to help a troubled man heal. We should all thank our veterans.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

“The strength of our country is rooted in the courage of those who defend it.”

– Unknown

Nixa native Larry Whiteley has communicated the great outdoors across America for over 45 years through newspapers, magazines, books, blogs, television, and a nationally syndicated radio show. Read more of Larry’s stories at www.storiesbylarry.com. Email him at larrywhiteley2@gmail.com.