Friday Focus: Respect, integrity and acceptance

November 12, 2020

— by Nettie La Belle-Hamer, interim vice chancellor for research

So much has happened this week, this month, this year! Jackie Morton’s really moved me and got me thinking. (”That’s dangerous,” as my dad used to say). I found myself looking at the picture of her from 1997 while stationed in 9th Psychological Operations Battalion (A) and thinking, where was I in 1997?

And, before you tell me you weren’t born yet, stick with me on this apparent rabbit hole and I promise we will come back to the surface. Ms. Morton and so many Americans, including my father, have served and are serving in the military, but where was I? The answer — working for NASA as a science liaison on Mission to Planet Earth — isn’t as important as the question.

It is human nature to relate things we see, hear, or read in the world around us to ourselves, our lives, and our experiences. It helps us to understand, or in some cases, causes us to fail to understand. But, let’s remember that “Homo sum: humani nihil a me alienum puto” (TerenceHeauton Timorumenos, “Heauton Timorumenos,” Act 1, scene 1, line 77).

Translation: Nothing that is human is alien to me.

Those of us who have not served in the military almost invariably know someone who has. In my case, my father and my niece have served. My father fought in the Korean War and was back to civilian life before I was even born. But what he experienced was both known and unknown to me my whole life. Known because of the stories he told and unknown because of the stories he did not. Not unlike many veterans of war, some stories were locked inside. What is your story? Who do you think of on Veterans Day?

While I was not there for the war my father served in, I remember the Vietnam vets coming home from war. It was brutal and unforgettable. It brings to mind the hate in our country now with our strongly polarized political environment. But if we can come from spitting on our returning Vietnam vets to today’s ubiquitous “Thank you for your service,” we can listen to Terence and learn to see the human on both sides of the aisle.

As we spend this week honoring our veterans, let’s also honor what they have fought for — America and the values we hold dear. I am hoping we can navigate away from the hate slamming across political party lines that has been our culture for the last few years to something more akin to what I believe are true American values of respect, integrity and acceptance.

I encourage you to visit the �鶹ԭ��F Honor Wall website . I also encourage you to submit photos and stories of those veterans who have touched your life. The virtual Honor Wall was unveiled on Nov. 11, but submissions will be accepted through the end of November.

Let’s stand together and honor all Americans. Let’s honor our differences and our similarities. Let’s celebrate and be proud to be Americans.

Friday Focus is a column written by a different member of �鶹ԭ��F’s leadership team every week. On occasion, a guest writer is invited to contribute a column.