Young Veteran

I was hoping to have a visit with a young man whom we welcomed home from Iraq last night. His name is Justin, and he's a former student who graduated in from Sandpoint High School in 1992. I'm including an anecdote about Justin in my next book. It concerns an assignment we did for the Beautiful Bonner history book, which was published in 1993.

Three classes of honors students worked on the assignment. Each student chose a person who had lived in the community for several decades. We worked for months on the project, and whenever we approached a new segment of the process, I explained thoroughly the expected procedure.

Whenever I was lecturing on "How to's," I was pretty passionate. Well, one day while I went through my explanation, Justin kept raising his hand. Not wanting to stop in the middle of a thought, I pretended not to see it and moved on. The hand, however, continued to distract me. Finally, I stopped, looked at Justin and asked the obvious, "Do you have a question?"

"Yeah, I have a problem," Justin told me. "My lady died."

"You certainly do have a problem, " I replied, feeling horribly embarrassed at putting him off.

Justin eventually interviewed my dad, Harold Tibbs, for his project.

There's a story with every student, and I couldn't help but think of that time while standing in the snowy darkness at the south end of the Long Bridge last night with a crowd of flag-waving well-wishers who were thrilled to welcome him home. When he and his mother pulled off the highway and parked, we gathered around the van. For a brief moment, a handsome young man hugged a few of us. He was then whisked back into the car for his special police escort across the Long Bridge.

It was difficult to avoid choking up while watching the van, escorted both front and back by police cars with blinking blue and red lights, head off north toward Sandpoint. The trip across our Long Bridge marks for just about any local the greatest of moments. Once on that bridge, we know we're home. That trip for Justin last night must have been sweeter than ever.

He'll be home with his family for five days before going back to Colorado to prepare for a second tour in Iraq. I'm proud to know that young man. Haven't had a chance to visit with him yet, but when I do, I'll share the highlights.
See stories about a Vietnam vet and a WWII vet below.