David Hoffmann
My dad was very good at so many things — one of which was being a father. I am grateful to him for many more things than there are words in this column.
But here's one thing that every one of us should be grateful for — his military service to this country.
He viewed that service as his greatest accomplishment in life.
Harvey Hoffmann
Harvey Hoffmann enlisted in the Army when he was 17. His own father had died a few years earlier, so he asked a neighbor to sign the permission form so he could join as a minor.
He didn't want to wait, because our nation was at war. It was 1943.
One thing the Army didn't have to do was teach Harvey how to shoot. He grew up on a Missouri farm, and shooting a rifle was one of those many things he already did well.
In my first column last month, I told you where I’m coming from — both personally and geogra…
After boot camp, he was deployed to North Africa, where he served as a rifleman in the First Infantry Division, the "Big Red One," during World War II.
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He was a front-line soldier who went ahead of the main body of troops to assess what lay ahead and help clear the way for them to advance.
And advance they did.
"No mission too difficult. No sacrifice too great. Duty first!" is the First's motto, and they lived it in the bloody Tunisian campaign from January to May of that year. After they were instrumental in securing the surrender of 240,000 Axis troops, it was on to Sicily, where things certainly didn't get easier.
After fighting their way through the mountains of Sicily, it was on to the long fight through the mainland of Italy. My father received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for his heroism in combat in the Po Valley.
The division's next great challenge arrived on the beaches of Normandy.
They fought their way through France and into Germany.
With the job done, Sgt. Harvey Hoffmann was honorably discharged in 1945. He came home to Washington, Missouri, where he worked as a milkman.
When I was a boy, we were visited by some of my father's soldier friends, who would tell me what he was too modest to say: He saved their lives in hand-to-hand combat and as a sniper.
My father felt a deep comfort in knowing he helped protect the homeland of the United States and kept our freedoms intact.
I have always thought that what I've been able to accomplish in business is minuscule compared with what he did for our country.
On Veterans Day and every day, I realize that everything I and others have done was given to us, and preserved for us, by the brave men and women of our military.
Harvey Hoffmann is also a big reason why I am so passionate about keeping local news alive.
I believe it is a part of the fabric of America — a part that helps make this country great and protects our freedom of speech, as his fighting did.
My father would have wished this, and I know he is watching.
It seems like we have somehow drifted away from the once-universal appreciation for the sacrifices veterans have made for all of us, and for the world we are a part of.
If you see a soldier, or a sailor, or a Marine, now serving or a veteran, please say "thank you."
As a country we should find tangible ways to say "thank you." We should make sure health care and educational opportunities for veterans are everything that we have promised over the years. And I believe every veteran should receive a discount of some kind on state and national taxes. It seems like the least we can do.
I believe we should start focusing on what is right in this country with less time talking about what is wrong. That narrative is out of balance.
America is, in fact, great. And the reason is because it is home to countless heroes.
Thank you.
To my father, to his many fellow soldiers who never made it home, and to those who have followed in his footsteps.
We can never thank you enough.
Hoffmann is the chairman of the board of Lee Enterprises and its majority shareholder. Lee is the parent company of this local news organization. Hoffmann is an occasional contributor to our Opinion pages.
