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A Different Kind Of Veteran
(January 21, 2010)
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When you hear the word veteran you think of a GI or sailor who
served his time in the armed forces of this country. However
there are other military veterans who live in the US, but served
in the Army or Navy of another country.
During both WWI and WWII Americans joined the armed services of
a number of Allied nations and fought under a foreign flag. Many
crossing into US military branches after America joined into
both of those wars. Some never did leave their foreign military
service and finished their war in the uniform of a different
nation. Then there are the immigrants who served in the military
of their parent nations prior to moving to the US. | |
Van E. Harl |
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When I taught Air Force Junior ROTC in Mississippi, the day
after the 9-11 attack the father of one of my Cadets came to see
me about joining the US Army. He was from Nicaragua and had
served in that country's army for eleven years before moving to
the US. He had infantry skills and he wanted to serve his new
homeland. During WWI an entire Army unit was created in New York
State called the Rainbow Division. It was made up of new
immigrants many who had already served in the military of their
former homeland.
The new pastor of the First United Methodist Church, the
Reverend David Player here in Altus is an Army veteran, but his
service was in the Army of South Africa. He is actually third
generation military. His grandfather fought in Europe in the
South African Army during WWI. He was captured by the Germans
and held in a POW camp, contracting a lung infection while a
prisoner. He and some fellow prisoners were able to escape and
traveled over the Italian Alps in the winter in order to get
back to Allied lines. He suffered cold injuries to include frost
bite and damage to his lung – damage that later required the
removal of the lung.
Reverend Player's grandfather suffered from what they called
shell-shock caused by his front line combat duty. The British
had a habit of using colonial troops as canon fonder, so South
African troops saw some of the hardest fighting in the early
days of WWI. Reverend Player's father was a maintenance troop in
the South African Air Force during WW II, serving in North
Africa. Reverend Player's father suffered from what they called
in WWII, battle fatigue. Fighting in North Africa in 1939 and
1940 were extremely difficult. Again Great Britain depended on
colonial troops to do the lion's share of the fighting. That
part of WWII is not well know in US history books because
America was not yet in the war.
As he talked about his father and grandfather's military service
a pattern of mental health issues were discussed and the stress
on the family life. We now have a new modern term for the
emotional aftermath of combat; it is called Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Reverend Player also served in the South African Army as a
mechanized infantryman. We have not had a draft in this country
for over 30 years but in South Africa there was a draft for all
males, who had to serve two years on active duty getting their
initial training. Then they spent the next ten years in what we
would call the active reserve. He got called up once a year for
up to 30 days and twice in the ten years for three months. Plus
over this entire ten years he had to attend reserve drill
meetings one night a week. And then basically he would have been
in the inactive reserve of the South African Army until he was
65, subject to call up at any time – makes US military reserve
service seem a little tame.
In the US we know little about South African wars. Corporal
David Player fought in South West Africa (Namibia) and Angola.
Reverend Player came to the US to attend seminary and become an
ordained Methodist minister, but did not plan to emigrate
permanently. He fell in love with our country and in 2002 he
became a US citizen. He is a former foreign veteran, who is now
a new citizen of this nation. His office which is full of
hunting, African, and military memorabilia is not like the
typical Methodist minister's work place. He has and continues to
aim high for his new country and now for Altus America. | |
By
Van E. Harl
Copyright
2006 About Author:
Major Van E. Harl, USAF Ret., was a career police officer in the U.S. Air
Force. He was the Deputy Chief of police at two Air Force Bases and the
Commander of Law Enforcement Operations at another. Major Harl is a graduate of
the U.S. Army Infantry School, the Air Force Squadron Officer School and the Air
Command and Staff College. After retiring from the Air Force he was a state
police officer in Nevada.
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