Ideals We are Thankful to Represent
I served in the Army from 1986 to 1990. After my initial 6 months of training to be a soldier and learn my trade, the Army sent me to Germany for the remaining 3.5 years of my enlistment.
My job was communications. I operated and repaired radio, telephone, and vehicle intercommunication equipment. I was assigned to an air defense artillery battalion stationed in the small village of Wackernheim, West Germany.
Experiencing my teenage years in the 1980s, I was exposed to a lot of the Ronald Reagan-era nationalist ideals. They helped shape the man I am today. It was those ideals, the movies of the day, and a host of other things that motivated me to join the Army. I believe the United States is the greatest country on Earth and will do so until I die.
As a young soldier coming from a small Southern town, West Germany amazed me. The country was beautiful and the culture interesting.
I grew to understand that older Germans actually appreciated Americans, while younger generations seemed to resent our presence. The reality of this didn’t start to sink in until 1 day in 1987 when my unit was on maneuvers rolling through a small village.
The village was tucked into some hills in the countryside. Like most small, German towns it was picturesque — from the brick streets and sidewalks to the well-groomed shrubbery, flowers, and street signs.
I had been tasked with road-guard duties, which meant I held traffic at an intersection while our convoy rolled through. Many of our vehicles were on track. The racket they made was deafening, and damage to streets was unavoidable. An older German woman walked up near me to watch.
In my best-broken German, I apologized to her for the noise. In surprisingly good English, she responded that it was OK. She would much rather see us than the Russians.
Her response surprised me. I hadn’t considered that perspective, but she had been alive during the Second World War. She knew more than just to hate communists. She remembered the differences between how American and Russian troops treated German citizens.
Her words put a smile on my face, and I stood a little taller.
I hadn’t really thought much more about that moment until 2 years later. In 1989, East Germany opened its borders to allow its citizens to travel to the West. As we passed the East Germans in their tiny cars, they would hold up signs expressing their love for us Americans and thanking us.
Most simply stated, “Thank you Americans. We love you!”
In the 1980s, we were taught that communists were the enemy. At that time, East Germany was part of the Soviet Union and communist. While we had viewed East Germans as our enemy, they had viewed us as their liberators.
I joined the Army in 1986 to help pay for my college and see the world. I had no idea what all I would learn. I learned what it means to represent something larger than yourself. To that old German woman as well as the East Germans, American soldiers represented ideals — namely freedom and democracy.
In a similar way, I believe electric cooperatives and their employees represent the ideals of democracy, equality, and power for the people. Electric cooperatives were founded to bring electricity to rural communities. We are now also bringing fiber-optic broadband internet services to those same rural communities so that all people have access to electricity and broadband internet.
When people see our trucks and employees, they see Coosa Valley Electric Cooperative. If they were alive when their home first received power, they see us as saviors of sorts. Younger generations don’t always understand the history behind the electric cooperative movement or the reason we even exist.
We are not the “power company.” Coosa Valley Electric is a democratically run electric cooperative owned by the consumers we serve.
We must uphold our legacy and never forget the ideals we represent.