Honoring those who served
<p>Carl Gidlund, a veteran of both the United States Army and the U.S. Air Force, speaks Monday after being named the Distinguished Veteran of the Year during a Veterans Day ceremony in Hayden.</p>
HAYDEN - Gray skies and falling snow didn't hamper the city of Hayden's Veterans Day Ceremony. Roughly 100 citizens gathered outside City Hall Monday to honor the men and women who have served our country.
During the ceremony, resident Carl Gidlund was honored as the city's Distinguished Veteran of the Year.
"Many in our community, many in this audience, have committed more valorous acts than I ever have. I accept this honor on their behalf," Gidlund said to the crowd.
A retired lieutenant colonel, Gidlund served in the U.S. Army and Air Force, in the Special Forces during the Vietnam War, and as a smokejumper for the U.S. Forest Service. He holds a master's degree in journalism. In recent years, Gidlund has been very active in community organizations supporting veterans and as a volunteer for Hospice of North Idaho.
"Every day is flag day at our home, as I hope it is at yours," Gidlund said.
He went on to describe a scene that recurs each day at the Gidlund residence. With his "very patriotic" hospice therapy dog Sadie by his side, Gidlund said he raises the Stars and Stripes each day and lowers them again at night. Each time, as Gidlund salutes, Sadie barks.
"To me, that simple ceremony is a daily reminder of the fact that we're at war, and of the huge debt we owe to those men and women fighting it," Gidlund said.
He reminded the crowd that there are individuals dying every day, and urged those gathered to find their own everyday ways to remember those making sacrifices in the name of liberty and freedom.
Gidlund said that he has witnessed war, and while he hates it and the misery it brings, he said there are good reasons for engaging in it. He likened his own thoughts to those expressed by 19th century philosopher John Stuart Mill, and shared Mill's words: "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. That decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling that says, 'Nothing is worth a war,' is worse. A man who cares about nothing but his own safety is a miserable creature who is only made free and kept so by the exertions of men better than himself."
Before leaving the podium, Gidlund thanked those who selected him for recognition.
"God bless our great country and the men and women who defend it. And please say a little prayer for our troops in harm's way," he said.