Published: September 29, 2008 10:14 pm         

Beckley MEPS looking for special vet

Ceremony room will be named in his/her honor

Perhaps the veteran suffered a horrible wound on the field of foreign combat in a war that defined the Greatest Generation.

Or it could be a matter of suffering mortal wounds when a helicopter was shot down by an enemy force as it hovered over a triple-canopy jungle in Vietnam.

Maybe the veteran was taken captive and spent a harrowing time as a prisoner of war.

Quite possibly, the battle-tested veteran did none of those but still came home with a backpack full of memories of his time on foreign soil, advancing the cause of freedom.

Whatever the circumstances, the Beckley Military Entrance Processing Station is looking for a veteran after whom to name its ceremony room, the place where fresh inductees step in to swear the oath of service — a carpeted room blanketed with seals that represent all branches of service, and several flags, including a West Virginia flag.

Maj. Allana J. Bryant, commander of the Beckley MEPS, is asking the public to send in nominations for a veteran of any service who served honorably.

“We would just like to add that dedication to a deserving veteran to kind of add that personal story to it,” she said Monday.

“We’re looking for somebody who might have been wounded, or killed in action, or decorated. It doesn’t necessarily have to be somebody that was in combat. But these days, that’s not too hard to find.”

Any war can be included, the major emphasized.

“We can go back as far as we want,” she said.

The only restriction is that the veteran must have passed through the Beckley MEPS when joining a branch of the military.

“If they came from this state, there’s a 95 percent chance that they did,” the major said.

Even if a veteran didn’t achieve a mark of distinction in combat, by wounds, death, decoration or POW status, eligibility for the honor would remain, she said. A veteran can nominate himself.

“I’m not going to close my eye to anything,” the major said.

“What we’re looking for is, we want a story to be able to tell these young kids that are coming into service about sacrifice, about you’re doing something that is greater than yourself, and you’re doing this for your country, and you’re doing this for your family, and you’re doing this for our freedom.”

“That can be told with someone who certainly wasn’t killed or wounded or anything like that. It’s kind of easier to tell that story with someone who’s really been there.”

Nominations aren’t required to be typed or a certain length, provided the basic information is supplied, and should be accompanied by a means of contacting either the nominating individual or the veteran, if more data is needed.

Beckley MEPS no longer is within Raleigh County’s seat, but moved to Glen Jean after a severe and heavy snowfall a few years ago destroyed the roof at its old location.

The deadline for submitting a nomination is Oct. 30. Nominations may be mailed to Beckley MEPS, 409 Wood Mountain Rd., Glen Jean, W.Va., 25846, sent by fax at 304-465-3194, or by calling Maj. Bryant at 304-465-0208, Ext. 200.

“We’d like to have a big ceremony,” Bryant said of plans to honor the veteran. “We want to make it a really significant and somber event.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com