Vets honored at Dublin hospital

DUBLIN, Ga. --- Command Sgt. Maj. Jesse Andrews walked down the sterile hall of the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center and stopped dead in his tracks at the sound of a familiar voice.

It was Marvin Potts, a soldier he barked at throughout basic training, back when he was an Army drill instructor.

Years later, the two men would serve together in Operation Iraqi Freedom I.

"I know this guy," said the 3rd Infantry Division's command sergeant major to his commander, Maj. Gen. Tony Cucolo, the division's commanding general.

The division's top officials were among those visiting the facility in honor of Armed Services Day on Wednesday.

The chance meeting in the hallway came only moments after a rousing hourlong concert by the Marine Band.

Sgt. Maj. Andrews immediately turned his attention back to his soldier-turned-VA patient. He inquired about family. He put a steady arm around the shaky patient and asked how he was doing physically.

"He wore spurs the entire seven months we were in-country," Sgt. Maj. Andrews said, bragging about his soldier to Maj. Gen. Cucolo. "He was 'Hooah.' There wasn't a weapons system he couldn't run or train on.

"... And he was a PT stud."

Mr. Potts smiled. "No, he's the man. It was always my goal to be like him."

Before the Marine Band's concert, Maj. Gen. Cucolo addressed an audience of 50 veterans and dozens of VA hospital staff members.

"The greatest tragedy is not to lose your life, but to be forgotten," he said. "You will not be forgotten. ... You have paved the way for us and we are proud to be your legacy."

It was a message -- both in words and in music -- that resounded with the gathering of veterans representing World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars.

"It definitely brings back some old memories," said Charles Anderson, a 54-year-old Air Force veteran who has been at the VA facility for just more than a month. "At least you know you are not forgotten."

Maj. Gen. Cucolo said it was the encouragement of local veterans groups that prompted him to bring the 3rd ID band to the VA center around Christmastime.

It was an experience that humbled the general and his soldiers.

"This is too special a place to do this only once a year," he said, adding he hopes to bring the band back one more time before the unit deploys to Iraq in the fall.