Beyond the Byline: Celebrate Veterans Day by thanking all veterans

WILKES-BARRE — Veterans Day is a time for all of us to thank and honor all veterans for their service — something we should do every time we meet a veteran.

One of my favorite veterans is Joe Barna of Freeland, who at age 94, continues to speak to groups about his service in Korea — and he always has a positive message about veterans of all wars.

Mr. Barna sent me his latest writing about veterans, and I will share most of it with you today. But first, let me tell you a little more about Mr. Barna and his service to our country.

A few years ago, Mr. Barna spent two days in San Antonio, Texas, to honor Corpsman John (Jackie) Kilmer and remembering what love and friendship is all about.

Barna spoke at the graveside service honoring Kilmer, the Navy Corpsman who saved Barna’s life 70 years earlier.

Kilmer lost his own life in battle several weeks later on Aug. 13, 1952.

“I will never forget Seaman Second Class John (Jackie) Kilmer,” Barna said at the service. “No one could be any closer to me.”

Barna said, like all soldiers in war, many young boys not even 20 years old, wanted the same thing — to return home to their families alive so they could all be together again.

“In a war, there is always hope, faith, love and true friendships,” Barna said. “There is also bravery, sacrifice and the desire to live. In wars there are only two things — living or dying. Many live and come back to see their families, but for far too many, the ticket is one-way.”

Barna said his life almost ended before he turned age 22. Barna said one night in Korea, he found himself lying in a mountain trench 10,000 miles away from his family and the town where he grew up.

“I was losing blood from a deep bayonet wound to my left arm,” Barna said. “The battle was raging all around me. I looked around, and I saw many of my buddies covered with blood, crying out and calling out for ‘Doc” — a Navy Corpsman trained to keep Marines alive. If a corpsman is not there to respond, that boy may very well die.”

Barna said he remembers watching his blood soak into the Korean dirt, and he was getting weak and tired.

“I was about to close my eyes and meet God,” Barna said. “Then I heard a voice — a voice I had heard every day. It was my Doc — Corpsman John (Jackie) Kilmer. I was very tired but I heard him say ‘Wake up, I have to close that wound or you’ll die. God doesn’t want you yet.’”

That night, Barna said he was given a second chance to live 70 more years of life and counting. The corpsman who saved him, Kilmer, would lose his chance to see old age. Kilmer died in battle five weeks later when helping another Marine live.

“He was a bravest man I ever met,” Barna said. “In a few minutes, this hero earned three medals — the Purple Heart, the Navy Cross, and the Congressional Medal of Honor.”

Barna served as a combat veteran of the Korean War from June 1952 to July 1953.

From inside a bunker, Barna said Kilmer heard Marines calling out for help.

“Looking out, he saw two wounded men on the battlefield. The sergeant told him that if he would go out there, he would die. “Jackie replied, ‘If I don’t go out there, they will die!’”

Barna said Kilmer crawled out to them and began to treat their wounds. As he did, a heavy round of shelling came in. Kilmer threw himself over the two Marines. A shell landed so close that 15 pieces of shrapnel entered his body.

Kilmer died, but the two Marines lived. Kilmer was six days short of his 22nd birthday.

Mr. Barna’s story is like so many others that were lived by veterans in battle. Many survived, far too many did not.

So Mr. Barna sent me another one of his stories for Veterans Day. This one is titled, “I Am an American Veteran.”

“I am not a Democrat, nor am I a Republican — I am an American,” Mr. Barna wrote. “I am an American veteran. Politicians hate each other — veterans love each other.”

Barna said he began writing years ago because he never wanted any veteran to be forgotten and to lose the honor that he or she had earned.

“I believe veterans are the only hope to make our country as great as it was when I was growing up,” Barna said. “I was born in Freeland, but grew up in Korea. It took 13 months, but with God at my side, I came home to my family again.”

Barna said when he entered the military, he was a scared young boy.

“But in war, you age fast,” he said. “I still remember the day I said goodbye to my parents, four brothers and three sisters. As I walked out the door, everyone was holding back tears. I was about to jump into a dark hole, not knowing how deep it was. Little did I know that in the coming months, I would be listening to the cries of the wounded and the silence of the dead.”

Mr. Barna said he wasn’t a special kid growing up, but he was taught love, respect, sacrifice and friendship.

“All of these things were reinforced when I was fighting with so many brave Marines in Korea,” he said. “I saw the horrors of war and the courage of these 20-year-old boys, and I will never forget what I saw and felt. Many came home with the scars of war. Some scars are on the outside, but others are on the inside.”

Barna said people have to try to understand all veterans — that we must never forget what so few of these Americans did for so many who never had to wear combat boots, use a weapon or kill an enemy.

“Be patient with a veteran and try to understand what they went through,” Mr. Barna said. “My words don’t come from my mouth — they come from my heart.”

Mr. Barna said he found friendship, pride, love of a brother, respect, courage and faith while wearing a military uniform.

“I also used a weapon to kill another human being,” he said. “But for this, I had no choice. I wanted to live.”

God bless all veterans and their families. And to my brother Marines Semper Fi — Always Faithful.

On this Veterans Day — and every day — thank every veteran for their service.

It’s the least we can do — and the best.