Recently, Americans paused on Veterans Day to honor the brave men and women who have secured our freedom by their duty, honor, and sacrifice. We honor them because we know we cannot fully enjoy our freedom without remembering the great price at which it has been purchased.

I was most recently reminded of this while attending a posthumous medal ceremony in Stockton Springs over the Veterans Day weekend. The ceremony honored Sergeant Jerry Walter Dobbins, the first World War II soldier from Stockton Springs to be killed in action. Sergeant Dobbins was a Left Waist Gunner on a B-17 bomber named “Beats Me!” On January 23, 1943, in the skies over Nazi-occupied France, the “Beats Me!” was hit by friendly fire, causing the pilot to lose control of the plane. Seven of the 10 crew members lost their lives in the ensuing crash, including Sergeant Dobbins. 

Two years ago, members of American Legion Post 157 uncovered the events that immediately preceded the tragic ending for the “Beats Me!” crew. According to a surviving crew member, Sergeant Dobbins did not put on his own parachute in order to assist a fellow crewman with an oxygen tube. While Sergeant Dobbins was in the process of helping his comrade successfully escape, however, the plane inverted and quickly crashed.

Selfless and heroic acts such as those displayed by Sergeant Dobbins justifiably fill us with a sense of awe. Sergeant Dobbins’ astonishing deed performed in one fateful moment is truly deserving of commemoration. But we honor Sergeant Dobbins for more than just that one moment of extraordinary, selfless courage. We also honor him for answering our nation’s call of duty and coming to its defense in its darkest hour. We honor him for bravely accepting one of the most dangerous assignments in aerial warfare.

One of the great privileges I enjoy as a United States Senator is helping our veterans obtain the medals and commendations they earned in uniform but never received. Most often, these cases are brought to my attention by family members or friends. In this case, it was the entire community of Stockton Springs who ensured that Sergeant Dobbins’ heroism was properly venerated. 

Together, we worked to award Sergeant Dobbins with the Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. I was pleased to have the opportunity to present the Dobbins family with these awards, along with an American flag flown over the Capitol in honor of the Sergeant. 

Every day, but particularly on Veterans Day, we honor those who paid the ultimate price, like Jerry Dobbins, whether they lie at rest in foreign lands, at Arlington National Cemetery, or in their hometowns. We honor those who lived beyond their years of military service, but who have since passed on. We honor those who remain missing and pledge that they never will be forgotten. And we honor those veterans who are with us today. We owe them all a great debt.

We also honor the parents, the wives and husbands, the children, and the other loved ones of our veterans and our troops. The families left behind face the challenges of carrying on with their day-to-day lives, while suffering from pain caused by separation and worry. Their sacrifices are great, and we thank them as well.

It is the American character to answer the call of duty. It is because of patriots like Jerry Dobbins that our country still stands, that our founding principles remain strong, and that people around the world who once knew tyranny now know freedom. It also is the American character to be grateful to those who answer that call.