County 10 is celebrating Veteran’s Day 2020 by featuring local Veterans. We reached out to local veterans and veterans’ organizations and asked those who responded what being a veteran means to them. We’re publishing these spotlights throughout Veteran’s Day 2020. Thank you to each and every Veteran for your service.
“We are like a band of brothers, we work together, we are like a family. It actually does mean something. It means that I feel appreciated for everything that I have done and gone through. Coming from a guy who originally grew up in 28 foster homes, 2 orphanages, and 2 group homes – you don’t feel appreciated for much. Our motto here is ‘veterans helping veterans’ and we live by that. Being a veteran means you sacrifice a lot. You don’t realize it when you first join up. There is always that desire to get out of a certain place, or something that you ran into. Or they had a choice between prison or jail or being in the military. No matter what their desire was, joining the military is always, always something completely different when you get into. It is just not what you were expecting unless you come from a long line of military and you know exactly what you are getting into. It is completely different. It is a huge family. You are all thrown together and taught exactly what it is about. You are torn away from your family – if you have one. You are thrown into many different situations and a lot of different experiences that there is no way you can even think about. I’ve seen people blown up, I’ve seen people shot up. I’ve been shot, stabbed, and blown up. It’s a completely different life. You can see war on television and it can be romanticized and glorified 100 different ways by Hollywood, but the horror of it is what you actually saw. I’ve lost a few friends and been in situations where God and I will have to talk about it. I went in as a hospital corpsman. A hospital corpsman is supposed to save lives, not take lives. So, yeah, there are some things God and I will have to talk about. Every one of these gentlemen and ladies I work with are stellar and every one of them are carrying a cross, and yet they all have this huge, huge desire to still serve and to still give back to the community that supports them. And yes, being a veteran means a little bit different to each one of us. I can guarantee you to each one of us it means giving back to our community, giving back to our brothers and sisters, and helping make sure they know they are not alone and in that dark space. When I first retired back on October 31st, 1996 and I wound up for about a year, year and half trying to take my life three times.” -Michael Higgs
Michael served in both the Navy and Marine Corps.
Thank you for your service!