It was my honor to be the Washington County (Indiana) Veterans Day Program guest speaker.

Read my speech here!

Today we mark the 70th anniversary of Veterans Day as designated by then president, and former 5-Star General of the Army, Dwight D. Eisenhower. In the proclamation for this day, he stated, 

“…Let us solemnly remember the sacrifices of all those who fought so valiantly, on the seas, in the air, and on foreign shores, to preserve our heritage of freedom, and let us reconsecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace so that their efforts shall not have been in vain.” 

In honor of this day, I stand before you to recognize your service to our beloved country, and your sacrifices as burdened by you in both times of peace, and times of war. As a veteran, I served both stateside and overseas, and though not deployed in a combat zone, I did have the honor of serving our military at war. 

I joined the Marine Corps June of 1984 at the MEPs Station in El Paso, Texas, one week after turning seventeen. While my classmates were attending prom, I bivouacked in the swamps of Parris Island. And while they walked across the stage for graduation, I washed C-130s on a Cherry Point flightline. Within a year I had been on three Marine Corps installations, one Air Force, and one Navy. But at the end of my four-year hitch, I felt that my place was at home caring for my daughter, and my daughter to come. 

Yet, with each day, I knew I’d made a mistake. I was a mother, but I was also a Marine, and the Marine in me wanted to serve. Unfortunately, the Marines were heavy on C-130 aircraft mechanics and as a small force, if they didn’t need your military specialty, you didn’t get back in. So, in November of 1989, I joined the Army and retrained as a Heavy Wheel Mechanic, of course not knowing that just a few months later we’d be at war in the Persian Gulf. Yes, I retreaded and made my way back into service for my country. And while the transition wasn’t easy, being in uniform was never hard. 

I served in peacetime while in the Marines, part of the Cold War era and a year-and-a-half after the Beirut barracks bombing. The Berlin Wall fell just a couple weeks before I joined the Army, and while serving in the Army, I joined the 1st Armored Division in Germany, just after my new unit had returned from war. And while I spent more days in the field than at my duty station, I was still in training mode and not at war. 

While stationed in Germany, I began volunteering with the American Red Cross. I taught first aid and CPR classes and did HIV/AIDS presentations for units. Soon after, I found out that service related medical issues wouldn’t allow me to continue on active duty, and that’s when I dug in to my volunteering. That volunteering was what led me into a war zone as an Armed Forces Emergency Services Station Manager. 

Now, back on installations, teaching as national faculty on military bases in Europe, training at Fort Benning, and deploying with the Big Red 1 to Guilajne, Kosovo, I found again a way to serve my country by caring for its servicemembers downrange. And for the first time, I rode down streets with IEDs, slept to the sounds of mortars hitting the camp walls, listened to bullets outside my GP medium, and lent a needed ear to the stories of those seeking comfort at the end of a long day outside of the gates.

Those days and those nights downrange, and those years away from family, moving and finding new homes, taught me only a small amount of the sacrifices servicemembers have made for our freedoms. But also, those lifelong memories, the friends and experiences, could never be replaced. 

At every veteran funeral, there are battle buddies with the best stories about that man or woman. With every new enlistment, there is a promise of opportunity and honor for those willing to sacrifice the comforts of the status quo. And with every DD-214, there is a veteran who gave their oath to the protection of our constitution. 

Today, I can assure President Eisenhower that our efforts were not in vain. And while troops and generals and politicians and citizens may not agree on actions we as veterans were ordered to conduct, we as veterans can stand proud knowing that we were the ones who were willing to be called in the defense of our nation.

Today we honor all who gave that oath, all who wore the uniform of our nation, and to those still serving, because as veterans, we are all one family. And today, we continue the tradition of those who served before us by preparing for war while still praying for peace.

Dusty Lynn Baker
U.S. Marine Corps/U.S. Army
November 11, 2024
Salem (Washington) Indiana