This Saturday is Veteran’s Day.  This holiday dates back to 1918 when Germany surrendered to the Allies, on the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month.  This marked the end of the fighting in World War I.

Initially, Veteran’s Day was known as Armistice Day.  In 1931, Armistice Day was changed by the Commonwealth of Nations (except for the U.S.) to Remembrance Day.  The reason for this change was to remember all of the soldiers who have fought in the world’s wars; not just World War I.  In 1954, nine years after the end of World War II, the United States changed Armistice Day to Veteran’s Day to honor all of America’s, and the world’s, veterans.

In honor of Veteran’s Day, I’ve decided to dedicate the next couple of weeks’ articles to highlighting various veterans in Winthrop’s community.  This week, I interviewed Winthrop High School’s Mr. Dixon.  From 1994 to 2001, he served in the Army as a captain (“I was special!” as he said in the interview), after being in the Wyoming National Guard.  While he was on active duty, he served in the 82nd Airborne Division.  He was a part of one of three brigades in his division, the 505th Paruchute Infantry Regiment.  He served as a lieutenant in the Second Battalion and then a captain in the First Battalion.  Below is the interview conducted with our high school’s very own veteran.

Shan Raneri: Why did you choose to serve in the Army?

Mr. Dixon: I was in college and I needed a scholarship.  The Army had great scholarships – a lot of it was a way to pay for college.  I was going to join the Navy, but they needed engineers, and I’m not an engineer.  So I figured the Army would be the one to give me a scholarship.

Raneri: Did your family ever serve?

Dixon: Oh, yeah!  My dad was in the Army and my grandmother was in the Marines, that’s where she met my grandfather.

Raneri: Where were you deployed to?

Dixon: Kosovo in 1999.  It was nice to get the chance to do something.  It wasn’t great, obviously, but it was nice not just to be trained, if that makes any sense.  Because in the military, you spend a lot of time training, and then you’re like, “Well, nothing’s gonna happen.”  So then you get bored.  It was nice to be able to not be bored.

Raneri: Military life is very different than “civilian life.”  What’s the biggest difference that you had to adapt to?

Dixon: Everything in the military has to get done.  Whatever you get assigned to do, you must do it.  For example, you know how people will do stuff, in life?  And sometimes the things they do aren’t really that important so they can just “let it slide?”  There’s no “letting it slide” in the military.  It’s just a different sense of importance.

Raneri: Is there anything you miss about the service?

Dixon: Oh, geez.  Not having to choose what to wear every day.  It was very comforting to not have to worry about that.  

Raneri: Did you learn any life lessons?

Dixon: Whatever you don’t think you can do, you can.  You can always do more than you think you can.

This Saturday, you can honor the veterans in your community by donating to a charity for veterans, supporting a veteran-owned business, or even just saying “Thank you for your service.”  We honor those who have sacrificed their lives for our country.  Thank you to all veterans.

Thank you for your service, Mr. Dixon!