In honor of Veteran's Day 2018, we're showcasing a few of our recent articles featuring veterans' stories. Thank you to those who have served!
Originally published May 31, 2018 (Issue 22)
The Garretson Henry G. Fix Post #23 gathered on Monday, May 28 to Celebrate Memorial Day, paying tribute to those who gave their lives in the cause of American freedom.
2018-19 Commander Andrew “Andy” Lyngen began the program by ordering the Color Guard to advance. GHS students Kristen Cordier and Sylvia Larson led the crowd assembled in the National Anthem. After an invocation prayer, the Legion Auxiliary, headed by Cheryl Lyngen, gave the Auxiliary’s memorial service presentation, reading the names of the dead of this post and the Garretson area.
Then Commander Lyngen introduced the honored speaker for the day, Col. Nancy Grandy, US Army (retired). Grandy is a “proud member of the Frerk Family” and a 1986 graduate of Garretson High School.
“Anyone who serves in the Army knows that the Army is bigger than any one person,” she said. “They serve their country, and they serve those that they serve beside, for their families and for their communities and their stories deserve to be told and remembered.”
Col. Grandy was commissioned as a 2nd Lt out of school and had a career that spanned over 30 years in the Army. She was not boastful, but plainspoken and humorous, easily winning the admiration of those gathered in attendance. Though she didn’t wish to talk too much about herself, she did give the audience highlights from her career. “And what an adventure it was for this small town Garretson girl,” she said.
Grandy took part most recently in the second gulf war, under Operation Iraqi Freedom. She was in the 296 Brigade Support Battalion as part of Task Force Arrowhead. She said that their convoys used a variety of vehicles, but they were best known for their Armored Personnel Carriers.
“These new vehicles were state of the art; armored, safe and quiet. In fact they took to calling us ‘the Ghost Brigade’ because they’d never hear us coming.”
Grandy’s battalion did everything, from delivering troops from A to B, delivering food and medical supplies, to aiding in construction and reconstruction and maintenance efforts.
“We were nomads, we didn’t have any real permanent bases, we just went where they needed us,” she said. They traveled all over, from Bagdad to Mosel, Bacuba and lots of places in between.
Grandy said that the most rewarding jobs in her opinion were provid- ing medical support and humanitarian food aid during and after the conflict.
“The opposition was hoarding food, using it as a tool of coercion, leaving the people to starve,” she said. “We got them fed. Bringing them food to fill up a warehouse, and then watching that warehouse empty was a job well done for us.”
She said they also saw their fair share of combat too, improvised explosive devices being a constant danger. But they helped themselves on that front, discovering and destroying an I.E.D. production facility and also destroying emplacement that had been found along their route.
“Fifty-four of our warriors died in battle and 560 were wounded,” she said. “I think of them often, but on Memorial Day I always honor their memory. Let me tell you this about the quality of your sons and daughters who I had the privilege to serve with. Whenever we met a challenge, they never said ‘we can’t do that,’ they always said, ‘how do we make it work?’ The always found a way to meet the challenge, to solve the problem with their creativity and hard work.”
After the Iraq War, Grandy said she was privileged to serve at the Pentagon, leading the transportation corps. Before she retired, she also served at the Army War College.
“That was, perhaps, the best job I ever had,” she said. “Helping to train the next generation of army leaders, hopefully to pass on the lessons I had learned while I was out there serving my country.” After singing God Bless America, the program moved outside for the traditional ceremony and salute of the dead. Students Amber Dubbelde and Grace Lamberty played taps and Larry Engebretson accompanied God Bless America.
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