By Peter Ciferri, BucksLocalNews.com

Jon Guy has a message for some of his fellow veterans: "Get off the sidelines, stop just saluting the flag as it comes by, and start marching behind it." The Newtown resident and West Point graduate will be the guest speaker at this year's Newtown Memorial Day Parade, and he says every veteran - himself included - is sometimes guilty of not doing his part to honor the uniform they once wore so proudly.

Guy said a few years ago, shortly after he joined American Legion Post 440 in Newtown, he was one of those veterans who would simply come out and view the Memorial Day Parade. One year, however, after a friend teased him about not marching alongside his fellow man, the message of the day started to have new meaning.

By marching, Guy said, you aren't just honoring those who died in combat, you're honoring every service member who has since passed away. He added that so many people mix up the meanings of Memorial Day (to honor the fallen) and Veterans Day (to honor all who served) that sometimes the events lose focus.

"We all know someone who served and isn't with us anymore," Guy explained. "You don't even have to put on a uniform, or even a blazer and tie, you just need to get there and march with us."

The parade, Guy says, is a special opportunity for veterans young and old to get the respect and recognition they earned.

"It's a moving experience," he reflected of his first time marching. "The people on the side, like I used to be, watch it go by and are affected by one moment. When you march you're affected by the whole thing."

And every other day of the year, the Wilmington, Del. native said vets should "find a way" to get involved with community service - upholding the oath of serving their country they took as cadets.

Guy was a student of the United States Military Academy at West Point. Standing in the shadow of our nation's greatest generals, including Eisenhower, Grant and Patton, he admitted that attending the school can be intimidating at first.

But once you remember that they're all just flesh and blood humans, like yourself, it's easier to gain confidence and succeed at the prestigious academy.

Currently a managing partner in his new company, Gray and Blue LLC, Guy also noted that many of his associates are West Pointers - a testament to the bond these servicemen carry their entire lives.

"I made friendships that are deeper and longer lasting [at West Point] than I think I would have anywhere else," he explained.

After graduating in 1986, Guy spent time leading a Transportation Platoon and an Abrams Tank Platoon in the 2-66 Armor Battalion of the 2nd Armored Division, at that time stationed in Germany.

Though he considers his time "undistinguished," Guy is quick to say that no soldier should ever "disparage another man's service," because even simple training exercises can lead to injuries or casualties.

Case in point: While doing maneuvering exercises with his tank battalion in Southern Germany, Guy's unit was faced with extreme cold, ice and snow while transporting trucks and tanks filled with hundreds of gallons of explosive fuel.

"Army vehicles can't seem to get any traction tanks don't do very well on ice," he said. "It took us five hours to go 30 miles."

Along the way, one of the tanks slid down a hillside and off the road.

As a commanding officer, Guy was astounded to hear his men vehemently talk back at him about moving forward with the mission. But after some negotiating - and a lot of hard work getting the tank out of a snowy ditch - forward action continued and the men finished their assignment as a team.

"Some casualties are not caused by enemy action, some are caused because you're handling heavy equipment that's just plain dangerous," he said. "If you can keep people safe and get out of an exercise without any injuries, you're doing a pretty darn good job."

He won an award for that exercise, the Army Achievement Medal, and while he says it's far from the most prestigious award in the service, it's the one he's most proud of - because of the hard work that came with receiving it.

"You get very close to those people," he explained. "You have a responsibility for them That's the real mission and it's far more important than four tanks or your ammo. They don't make you sign for those 15 people."

Guy left the service in 1990, but the service never left him. Between reunions at West Point, working with fellow Army and Navy veterans with his business startup and the time he spends at the Legion, Guy maintains a level of commitment to that oath of service he hopes veterans of yesterday and today will embrace.

And it all starts on Memorial Day.

By Tim Chicirda, BucksLocalNews.com

John Rodgers' resume in Bristol Borough is rather amazing, but there is more to this local man than just his dedication to his home town, as Rodgers gave years of his life to our nation.Rodgers' busy life began with his birth on Bath Street in the borough.

John was welcomed into a very full household of 12, which included his grandparents, two uncles and an aunt.

"It was a house full of love and one bathroom," jokes Rodgers.

His father, also named John, was a Bristol Borough Committeeman for many years, while his mother Sarah was an employee at Grundy Mill.

While in Bristol High School where he was a member of the baseball team, John made a very important life decision: to join the United States Air Force. After graduating in 1947, John became a member of the Air Force and was so from 1950 to 1954.

Rather than being draft into the Army, as many were at this point in time, Rodgers decided to join voluntarily.

Rodgers began his basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.

John was then stationed at many other spots, including Denver in the States, Newfoundland and Greenland.

Rodgers ended his time with the Air Force with a two-year stint Bolling Air Force Base in our nation's capital. While working in an office in the base, John continued his passion for baseball with the Bolling Air Force team, while playing basketball as well.

At Bolling, Rodgers met Betty Mendick and married her. Betty was from Western Pennsylvania. She worked for the U.S. Navy, as well as in the White House as a secretary under Dwight Eisenhower.

Mendick went to see Louis Prima and Keely Smith at the Bolling Air Force Base. Here, Betty met Airman First Class John Rodgers.

When Rodgers returned home, his real lifelong legacy began as a huge political figure in Bristol Borough. In fact, Rodgers is the only person in the long history of the town to be Borough Councilman, Council President, Mayor and State Representative.

"One thing that I am most proud of is holding those four offices that no one else ever did," said Rodgers. "I love the town and I think I helped make things better."

Rodgers was a Bristol Borough Councilman for 10 years, and spent another two-year term as President of this group.

Another eight years of John's political life was spent as Mayor of Bristol in two non-consecutive terms.

Rodgers capped off his impressive political resume with two years as Pennsylvania State Representative in 1979 and 1980.

When Rodgers was President of Council, he met with the legendary Senator Grundy. They had lunch in Grundy's mansion and discussed issues important to the community.

"I remember most being greeted by one of his servants," said Rodgers, recalling the style that Grundy lived. However, this meeting was a very important one for John, meeting the leading citizen of Bristol and receiving advice for the second portion of his political career.

Rodgers was a giant in the world of community service. John contributed to the Redevelopment Authority of Bucks County. He was on the Board of Directors for the Lower Bucks Hospital. And, during his political tenure, the Grundy Tower, the Senior Citizen Center and many recreational programs were created.

This is truly something that would make Senator Grundy, a man who preached the art of giving back to the community, proud.

Fred Hems, a man who was a former subject of Saluting our Veterans, states that: "John Rodgers was always for a better Bristol."

By R. Kurt Osenlund, BucksLocalNews.com

Talking with Col. Paulette Schank is a little like going to the doctor. There are no tongue depressors or blood pressure readings, but the immediately pleasant, St. Mary's-employed anesthetist has a warm bedside manner that, evidently, trickles over into her daily conversations. But make no mistake - not only is Schank naturally accommodating, she's also a strong, natural-born soldier, claiming to have felt "a responsibility to serve" her country since she was a kid. Now, at 54, this dedicated Langhorne resident has lent her medical expertise to both of America's most recent major conflicts, and the experiences seem to have only galvanized her spirit.

Born to father Paul and mother Margaret in South Carolina, Schank says she "grew up all over," spending her youth in places as exotic as Japan and as familiar as Philadelphia. Schank was raised in a military family. Her dad - who's still kicking at 83 - had a long career in the Navy, and brought the family to this area when it came to a close. Schank attended St. Hubert's Catholic Girls High School in Philadelphia and, at her senior prom, become engaged to her sweetheart, Bob, who she's now called her husband for over 30 years.

Shortly after the engagement (in the early 1970s), Bob, also a soldier, reported to Vietnam while Schank went off to practical nursing school at St. Mary's Hospital's original location in Northeast Philadelphia - the first of many institutions that would contribute to a stockpile of medical knowledge. Though eager to break into her field, what Schank discusses at greatest length about those days was how much she missed her fiancé.

"I wrote (Bob) every day when he was over there," she says with a sentimental grin. "I'd send him questions from the Newlywed game. We had planned to get married when he got home."

And marry they did, just as Schank was finishing her program at St. Mary's. Soon enough the couple became the proud parents of two children, Bob Jr. and Joy. Following the births of her babies, Schank went back to school, commuting from the Northeast to Bucks County Community College to become a Registered Nurse. Upon graduation, she spent a brief stint at home before continuing her higher education at La Salle University. By 1985, she had her Bachelor's in nursing.

Though Schank pointedly acknowledges that she cherishes the time she spent raising her children, she admits that that "responsibility" of service was burning inside all along. In 1989, when her kids had all but grown up, she finally heeded the call and joined the military. She was 34 - an uncommonly mature age for a first-time soldier. She gravitated toward the Air Force, the only branch of the armed forces - and, she notes, one of the only employers in the field - to offer training in flight nursing, which is precisely what it sounds like: medical care in the air. Schank joined the 72nd Air Medical Evacuation Squadron (AES) and attended flight school. Less than a year later, she was able to put her lessons to use.

"My very first mission out of flight school was going to war," she says. "I had just finished and we got activated. My first mission was in Desert Storm, and I couldn't have been better trained."

Schank was part of a unit that would fly wounded soldiers out of the Middle East to a base in Germany and then back to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. The victims would be sent out in whatever direction led to the best possible care, and Schank and company would return overseas, starting the rescue cycle all over again. (The same practice is still used by the Air Force today.)

When she wasn't busy saving lives in the sky or across the globe, Schank was still hard at work, honing her skills on the ground at home. In 1995, she earned her Master's in nursing and critical care from Temple University and, two years later, she completed her anesthesia education, an accomplishment that would lead to a few years of employment within the Frankford Hospitals system.

The new millenium brought new career developments to Schank both on American soil and abroad. In 2000, she began working as an anesthetist at St. Mary's Medical Center in Langhorne, a position that she still holds today and that, given her first taste of the world of medicine, brings her extensive training full circle. Schank is also the official flight commander of the O.R. in a combat hospital in Balad, Iraq, overseeing a large staff and keeping her cool amidst what she calls "the carnage and ugliness of war." An active soldier, Schank has served two tours of duty through that ugliness since 2006, the latest of which ended not two months ago. She's been featured prominently in a 60 Minutes documentary entitled, "A Fighting Chance," in which two of her patients were followed from point of injury back to the U.S. Outside the military, she's been on humanitarian missions in Peru and Honduras. She's a mentor to younger soldiers, is actively involved with local veterans organizations and is a devoted grandmother to Joy's son, Dean. She is, quite frankly, a hero, in every sense of the word. And what is she tackling now? Piano lessons.

"I've actually been at it for about six years," Schank says, gazing back at the gleaming grand piano in her living room that Bob bought her as a birthday present. "My teacher has me on that 'Entertainer' song and it's just killing me." Don't bet on it.

By Petra Chesner Schlatter, BucksLocalNews.com

U.S. Navy Lt. Daniel E. Worden, a member of the Upper Makefield Township Board of Supervisors, was on the inside track during the Vietnam War.Worden was serving aboard the U.S.S. Tortuga when people back home were being told one thing, but information Worden knew was quite different.

"There was no television or radio in Vietnam," he noted. "Mail arrived by helicopter about every two weeks. The Chicago Tribune had given me a free subscription.

"When the mail arrived, I got copies of the newspapers that indicated President Johnson and the White House were not involved with the war, which was in conflict with the secret messages we were receiving from 'The Joint Chiefs of Staff - WHITE HOUSE.'"

Worden is no stranger to naval involvement at sea. He proudly talks about a distant cousin, John L. Worden, who was a key player on the Union side during the Civil War. "He was given the commission of the U.S.S. Monitor," he said. "There was a famous sea battle in Virginia in 1862."

The Union's Monitor beat the Confederate's Merrimac. John L. Worden went on to become one of the first commandants of the Naval Academy in Annapolis.

"I grew up with it," Worden said of his family connection with military history. There are about 1,000 Wordens in the U.S. today.

Worden's distant cousin played a part in the Battle of the Ironclads, a Union victory. "It was a famous naval engagement," he said.

At age 23, Worden joined the Navy ROTC in 1960. He was then commissioned in June of 1962. In early 1964, he was a Lt. Junior Grade (LTG). As he was leaving the service he was promoted to lieutenant in October, 1965.

Aboard the U.S.S. Tortuga, Worden was the supply officer. Tortuga, Worden noted, means 'tortoise' in Spanish. "Our motto was, "You call, we haul."

Worden took a 'junior cruise', which was a training program. "It was all line officers," he said. "On that cruise, one of the things you had to do was 'a man overboard.' You had a dummy. His name was Oscar. You'd turn Oscar overboard."

Worden had 'command of the ship.' "You have to give the commands. You bring the ship around; you put the boat in to fish Oscar out. I missed Oscar by ¾ of a mile.

"I took command again, gave the commands and took the boat around," he recalled. "This time, I ran over Oscar!"

He described the Tortuga as a landing ship. The ship ballasts down (which means to add or reduce weight). The ship can carry amphibious tanks, which carry 25 troops. "You can imagine - you've got 40 amphibious with 25 troops bobbing in the water!

"I took off on July 6 of 1964 for a western Pacific deploymentThe first port was Hawaii, the second one was Okinawa. We were three days in Okinawa when the Bay of Tonkin happened."

The Bay of Tonkin was where a North Vietnamese PT boat allegedly attacked a U.S. warship. According to some reports, this was the reason the American government went full throttle into Vietnam.

Worden said, "The telex were coming in and the U.S.S. Turner Joy and the U.S.S. Maddox - two of our destroyers - were in the Bay of Tonkin."

The captain ordered Worden to top off the ship. "We loaded 1,000 Marines and the [amphibious tanks] and we took off for Vietnam," he remembered.

The U.S. government couldn't get permission to land until $3 million dollars was presented. "Here we are at sea, going up and down the coast, combat-loaded, ready for the command. We were there four months waiting for an order."

The Tortuga loaded a Marines battalion. "The Joint Chiefs of Staff send us a telex. 'We want you to have a military line in the middle of the South China Sea.'"

Worden described it as an "imaginary line." The order was given and the amphibious tanks were afloat.

A problem arose. "The Marines had not exercised - they could not climb the ladders," Worden said.

The Tortuga took the battalion back and another battalion was loaded. Worden said, "We would pick up troops and take them back to Subic Bay. We made the first landing in Da Nang. It was unopposed.

"I found out later that they airlifted the rest of the battalions," he said. "They were bringing in troops. We went on special watch aboard ship where we were anchored."

Worden described what it was like to be on watch for attack. "It was like 100-120 degrees. A number of us slept on deck. I remember waking up and thinking it was too early for morning, but the sky was orange. What was happening was the Da Nang Airfield was being attacked by mortars from the Viet Cong (from the north).

"I was there at the very early stages," Worden commented.

Through all the time he was aboard ship, he saw three typhoons in two years. "The winds were 180-mile winds," he said. "You couldn't be out in that. You stayed underground."

Back home, Worden excelled. He went on to be executive director of Worldwide Regulatory Compliance for Bristol-Myers Squibb. He was also with Price Waterhouse and later set up a FDA regulatory consulting company.

Originally from Chicago, Worden is a University of Wisconsin graduate where he earned his Bachelor of Business Administration. From Southern Illinois University, he received his Master of Science Degree in Marketing for the technical side of forecasting.

He and his wife, Lisa, have three adult children. They have lived in Upper Make-field Township for nearly two decades. This year marks Worden's sixth year as a township board supervisor. Although he is retired, he remains active in local government and veterans organizations.

Worden, a strong supporter of the Guardians of the Washington Crossing National Cemetery, said he was made an honorary lifetime member of the veteran's group because of his work for the cemetery.

Referring to the Vietnam veterans' memorial in Washington, D.C., the Navy veteran said, "I've read every name on the wall."