By Lee Ann Sides Garrett
news@salisburypost.com
Watching the group of veterans joke around while assembling for a picture, Aida Alamo smiled.
The 11 had served in World War II, Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan and Beirut. They were together for a dinner at Salisbury Christian Fellowship held in honor of Aida’s son, Luis Alamo Jr., who is home on leave from Iraq, and all the veterans who attend the church.
The group included Aida’s husband, Luis, who served in Iraq with the 846th Transportation Co. from Salisbury.
“They kind of double-whammied me,” Aida said of having both her husband and son deployed. “It was awful.”
Despite his parents’ desire for him to wait, Luis Jr. joined the Army while his Dad was still in Iraq. The two wound up deployed at the same time.
“He always wanted to be what his daddy was,” Aida said.
Luis Sr., who has served more than 32 years in the military, spent 18 months in Iraq and was part of the security force for elections there. Luis Jr. completed one year of a 15-month tour, returning home because of an injury.
“I took a bullet to the right index finger and forearm,” Luis Jr. said. “They reattached my finger.”
The only visible evidence of the injury to that finger is a scar on the knuckle. Just hours after being injured, Luis Jr. heard his father had re-enlisted, so he re-enlisted, too. Father and son said serving their country is important to them.
Other veterans at the church dinner agreed. Joe Nannie, 80, served in Korea and Vietnam as a hospital corpsman, despite the fact he didn’t know what a hospital corpsman was when he enlisted. He said Uncle Sam made the decision for him.
“I thought I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Nannie said. “But I accepted it because I remembered the contract I signed said I would accept all orders.”
J.C. Arey, 86, a veteran of World War II, wore his uniform and had plenty of stories to tell. Arey told of serving on a South Pacific island, Biak, off the northern coast of New Guinea, and discovering two of his neighbors from his home on Wiley Avenue were there with him.
“I recognized William Frost when he walked by one day,” Arey says. “He told me Bill Miller was there, too.”
Lt. Col. Jim Duncan spent 13 months in Vietnam commanding an infantry company and flying helicopters. He worked with Special Forces in 1965 and said he retired from the Pentagon as an inspector general and began the ROTC program in Rowan County at South Rowan High School the following Monday.
Duncan said he feels his life has come “full circle,” since he is now working with Robin Sage, the training exercise for Special Forces.
The entire group talked about the dangers of serving as if it were just a part of the job. Despite the hardships and his injury, Luis Jr. said he and all the soldiers he serves with don’t like being called heroes.”We’re just doing our jobs,” he said.
Aida said the families who stay at home are heroes, too.
“I’m very proud of my two men and what they do,” she said. “Even though it’s hard.”