A blue star in my window: Memorial Day tribute

Today we honor the men and women, past and present, who have paid a high price to serve our country and ensure our freedoms. I've told a number of moms and dads over the years as they send their sons and daughters off to war that it is a God-like thing to do to send a beloved son in harm's way to secure freedom for others.

Today I honor my father, Robert E. Hickey. The pic below is of him in Vietnam in 1966. The red dirt and topography lead me to think this is taken near Plieku where I know he spent a lot of time. He came home and was my hero - my mom made me a uniform out of his fatigues.

The war really messed my father up for the rest of his life - a decade ago a doc at the VA hospital here in Sioux Falls recommended my mom and I read a book called Vietnam Wives to help us understand his PTSD. The book precisely describes what it was like to grow up in our home after the war. Besides fighting his internal battles, my dad spent the rest of his life fighting our government and one of the things that motivates me to run for office is to make sure the men and women who serve don't have to keep fighting for benefits when they get home. In 1999, I went to Vietnam and tried to get my father to go with me - others told me he should go as it would be healing for him.  He said he never wanted to go back there (that's the edited PG version of what he basically said).

During the Second Gulf War I was offered a five digit sign-on bonus as our military was desperate for chaplains. I thought long and hard about it but decided I was needed more at home. When my kids were older I figured it was a better time and so a few years before I turned 40 I tried to enlist in the Reserves but I didn't pass the physical because I take a little thyroid pill every day. In 2002, I went the police chaplaincy route instead and still serve in that capacity here in Sioux Falls. Though I'm very conscious of the fact that it doesn't compare to the sacrifice of our Vets, for years I've committed myself to fighting the ideologies that war against American freedoms here at home. I plan to continue vigilance in that struggle. It's the least any of us can do.

Also today we honor my wife's uncle - Emmanuel Lundquist.  He landed on Normandy a few days after D-Day and died a month later in a hedge row in France.

We found these old pics in a scrapbook this morning which capture the days right before he left for the war. Note the blue star in the window and the poem his mother clipped out of the newspaper and pasted in the album - read the poem if you want to know the war mom's sentiment behind the blue star in the window.  The blue star in the window was changed to a gold star if the soldier died.

Also note the cross flag in the pics below- the chaplain had just held a Sunday service in the field. Emmanuel had a deep Christian faith. He is the one sitting front and center with his hands clasped. Roland Lundquist, pictured below, and Delbert (not pictured) were Emmanuel's cousins who served in Europe at the same time. When Delbert heard Emmanuel was killed he said he'd make sure some German paid dearly for what they did to Emmanuel.  The little guy standing in the picture (bottom right) was Kristen's father. The picture was taken at her grandpa's farm near Clifton, Kansas.

This recent Tweet from SarahPalinUSA says it well… "VETERANS, not reporters, give freedom of the press. VETS, not politicians, give freedom to vote. VETS, not campus radicals, give freedom to assemble."