Service above self
IVCCD eSports Director speaks at MCC Veterans Day program
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The Iowa Valley Community College District (IVCCD) honored those who fought for our country with the Veterans Days Ceremony and Community Lunch Wednesday at Marshalltown Community College (MCC).
Veteran and IVCCD Director of Esports Andrew Goforth reflected on the meaning of Veterans Day. He felt when citizens speak to a veteran about and thank them for their service, they do not fully know what it means.
"It means something different to every veteran," Goforth said. "But I'm going to start with what it means to me. . . . We tend to focus a lot on people who have made the ultimate sacrifice, which is absolutely pertinent to what I have to say."
He asked the roughly 50 attendees how the veterans around them live. The same word – "service" – is used to describe the work fast food employees do, and to describe what veterans have done and do.
Goforth learned what that word means to him after asking his veteran great-grandfather about his military career.
"I asked him, 'Why did you do it?'" he said. "My great-grandfather looked at me and he got pretty grave. He said, 'Well, Andrew, that son of a b--- was going to take over the world. What else was I supposed to do?'"
At the age of 8, Goforth understood the answer. What "service" means to him is when any veteran or active duty soldier makes a decision to live for something larger than themselves.
"Military service is about deciding, whether you know it in that moment or not, that you're willing to pick up a weapon, get on a ship, get on an airplane and defend people who you might not like, you might not agree with, but you're willing to do that," he said. "Because you are doing something and living in a way that is larger than yourself."
Goforth said he did not know the man who picked up an M1 carbine and stormed the beaches of Anzio in Italy in 1944.
"I knew an old man who made sure every day, no matter how sick he was or what was going on, to get me to school every day," he said. "He was living in such a way that was larger than himself. Every veteran I know, in some way, lives in a way or tries to live in a way that is larger than themselves."
Goforth said he was not at the ceremony to talk about himself, because what he was talking about was bigger than himself.
"But what I do ask, and what I hope, is that if you see me, you can at least give a glimpse sometimes that [you know] I work for things bigger than myself," he said. "I challenge all of you, veteran or not, to think about how you're living your life. What are the ways you live for something that is greater than you?"
The final challenge Goforth presented is when anyone thanks a veteran for his or her service, to not give the standard "How's it going?" because that is what is common.
"Actually think about the fact that this person dedicated part of their youth, maybe a majority of their life, they hurt their body and they did it for something that is beyond them," he said.
At the beginning of the ceremony, Assistant Registrar Benita Petersen informed the audience that MCC recently received a donation of nine boxes of documents, photographs and memorabilia collected during the 26-year military career of Joseph Petrone.
Petrone, originally of Marshalltown, joined the Iowa National Guard at the age of 15 in 1938 and graduated from West Point on D-Day, June 6, 1944. He served as a lieutenant in General George Patton's Third Army during the Battle of the Bulge.
After retiring from the service, Petrone worked in military intelligence. In 1987, he was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to be ambassador to the European Office of the United Nations in Geneva where he remained through 1989.
Petersen said the donated items will be documented, preserved and selections will be displayed in the Veterans Lounge.
Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.