I recently had the privilege of participating in a ceremony renaming the Veterans Affairs Clinic in my hometown of Missoula, Mont., in honor of my late father, Doolittle Raider David J. Thatcher.
The ceremony, held Feb. 21, was the first of three in the Treasure State to rename VA facilities for Montana World War II heroes after the state's congressional delegation introduced and secured passage of bipartisan legislation in 2018. The other two will take place in Billings, Montana's largest city.
One clinic in Billings will be renamed in honor of the late Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow, a Crow tribal war chief, Native American historian and the last link to the Battle of Little Big Horn, who was a scout for the 103rd Infantry in Europe.
In the finest Native American tradition, Medicine Crow went off to battle wearing war paint beneath his uniform and a yellow eagle feather inside his helmet. Thus armed, he led a mission through German lines to procure ammunition. In the process he helped capture a German village and disarmed--but did not kill--an enemy soldier. And in the minutes before a planned attack, he set off a stampede of 50 horses from a Nazi stable, singing a traditional Crow honor song as he rode away.
The other clinic will be renamed for the late Benjamin Steele, Bataan Death March survivor, artist and educator, whose art helped him maintain his sanity as a Japanese prisoner of war and later helped him forgive his captors.
Steele grew up riding horses, roping cattle and occasionally delivering supplies to western artist Will James in the Bull Mountains near the small town of Roundup. During 42 months of confinement, he sketched scenes of cowboys, horses and barns. His originals were lost, but he later painted the scenes as he went through a long recovery. Those works of art are now housed at the University of Montana.
During the ceremony in Missoula, I spoke on behalf of my family in regard to my father and the heroism he exhibited during and after the Doolittle Raid, when he helped save the lives of his crew as a 20-year-old enlisted corporal after their plane crash-landed April 18, 1942, off the coast of China.
Also participating in the ceremony were Montana's U.S. senators Democrat Jon Tester and Republican Steve Daines; Mike Waters, director of veteran and military affairs for Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte and an Air Force veteran and former B-1 pilot; and Dr. Kathy Berger, director of the VA Montana Health Care System.
Daines, Tester, Gianforte and members of their staffs helped introduce and secure passage of the legislation that was later signed by President Trump to rename the three VA clinics in Montana.
Besides representing my family and speaking about my father, I was excited about the opportunity to meet and visit with Tester and Daines, especially Tester, since he had bucked the trend of numerous veteran U.S. Democratic senators losing their seats in conservative red states during the 2018 general election. I didn't know much about Daines.
Tester showed up for the ceremony looking like he had just left his 1,800-acre farm near Big Sandy, around 200 miles northeast of Missoula. Clad in an oversized tan work shirt, jeans and boots, with his signature flat-top crew cut and missing three of his fingers on his left hand as the result of a farming accident, he's a bear of a man. His livelihood, appearance and personality resonate with many citizens in the predominantly rural and conservative state.
Daines appeared more polished. He was wearing a crisp white open-collar dress shirt, a dark blazer, dark dress slacks and cowboy boots. He told me he had grown up in Bozeman and graduated from high school there before attending and graduating from Montana State University. He later became a successful businessman before entering politics.
During my discussions with both senators and after hearing their remarks during the ceremony, I came away impressed with both, particularly Daines. He had been the original sponsor of the legislation to rename the Montana VA clinics and spoke eloquently about both my father and my 94-year-old mother, Dawn, who was in attendance.
Daines pointed out that while there is one surviving Doolittle Raider, Lt. Col. Richard E. Cole, there is also one surviving widow of the Raiders: my mother.
The son of a Marine, Daines said he heard the story of the Doolittle Raid while growing up.
"It's such a great American story of heroism and bravery," he said. "When they had that first air strike on Japan following Pearl Harbor, it lifted the morale and spirits of the American people during a dark time in our nation's history. I just can't be prouder of David and what he did, and how he'll be remembered."
Tester complimented me following my remarks and then spoke immediately after me: "It must be pointed out that probably 99.9 percent of the people David served didn't know the story that Jeff just told us," Tester said. "His service as a member of the Doolittle Raid was remarkable and his selflessness and the caring of his crew mates didn't go unnoticed. David represents the very best of our nation."
Neither Tester nor Daines approach the longevity of some of Montana's more famous U.S. senators including Democrat Mike Mansfield, who served from 1953-1977, with many of those years spent as Senate majority leader before retiring and later being named U.S. ambassador to Japan, and Democrat Max Baucus, who served from 1978-2014 before resigning to become U.S. ambassador to China.
Yet both Tester, who has served since 2007, and Daines, who has served since 2015, have plenty of opportunities in the months and years ahead to distinguish themselves. Both have come out in favor of legislation supporting veterans and legislation in support of public lands in Montana, issues that resonate strongly with Montana voters.
Although it's been many years since I called Montana home, I find a lot of similarities between it and Arkansas. Both are relatively lightly populated states with most of their residents living in scattered cities. Both have an abundance of natural beauty and wildlife. And both are predominantly conservative politically.
The primary differences lie in geography and climate. Montana is in the mountainous west and Arkansas is in the south-central part of the country. Montana suffers from long brutal winters and Arkansas suffers from long humid summers.
In a time of tribalism marked by angry and vocal factions on both ends of the political spectrum, the renaming ceremony was a refreshing moment for me to witness representatives of both governing parties coming together in the spirit of bipartisanship and successfully securing the passage of legislation recognizing true American heroes.
That shared effort also helped those of us gathered at the ceremony to remember our nation's history and the sacrifices that so many men and women made during World War II to help our country remain free. It also gave me hope that additional bipartisan moments and efforts from our elected representatives in Washington might be forthcoming in the future.
In his closing remarks, Tester summarized my feelings regarding the ceremony and our nation's veterans: "Now we need to work together to make sure that every generation of veterans has the proper recognition, the health care and benefits that they've earned at clinics just like this one."
Jeff Thatcher, a professional communicator and longtime resident of Little Rock, is the son of late Doolittle Raider S. Sgt. David J. Thatcher.
Editorial on 03/24/2019