Dazed in a food coma, students’ minds — or more so their stomachs — lead them to believe that Thanksgiving is all about turkey, stuffing and pie; however, this year, one Ohio University student will carry on the true meaning of the misinterpreted holiday.
Stranded alone on the side of a highway with a broken-down car the weekend before the Thanksgiving break, Kristen Helmsdoerfer, a junior studying English and Spanish, watched cars drive right along, gawking at her situation but providing no aid. With no money, phone or any knowledge of car mechanics, she was stuck.
An older man on a red motorcycle then approached and offered his assistance. While he was underneath the car, the car jack collapsed and would have crushed him had he not slid out just a moment before.
After Helmsdoerfer thanked him for his help, the man said, “It’s really no problem. Do me a favor and thank a veteran,” adding he had served in Alaska from 1965 to 1967.
That day, she decided she would. Just in time for Thanksgiving, Helmsdoerfer elected to write letters to the veterans of Athens County in honor of that mysterious man’s wish, for she never found out his name.
Due to privacy laws, she is not allowed to know the recipients’ addresses beforehand; thus, the 50 letters she wrote will be mailed to a random list of veterans put together by the Athens County Veterans Service Commission.
“I wanted to personalize them, but maybe being entirely random will be cool, because I can reach a wider age group and get people of all different service backgrounds,” Helmsdoerfer said. “It doesn’t matter as long as they are veterans.”
John Montgomery, an Air Force veteran who served in the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1969, said Helmsdoerfer’s project is a special one.
“People never do that,” he said. “It is good for the veteran to know that the public recognizes what he or she is doing. There are a lot of people that need that, because they feel overlooked.”
Carol Perry, an Athens County resident, echoed Montgomery’s sentiments.
“It is sad,” she said. “I am in a family where my father and brother are veterans. They put their life on the line for our country and put their life ahead of everything else; people need to respect that.”
In her goal to always remember the importance of veterans, Helmsdoerfer said she plans on making this a personal project that she will continue every year, with hopes of other people joining in the effort.
This year, Helmsdoerfer had much more to be thankful for than a break from school or the generic — and somewhat robotic — answer of “family, friends and good health.”
“This man showed me that every day is Veterans Day,” Helmsdoerfer said. “I am thankful to live in a world inhabited by kind-hearted people such as this man. I’m thankful for a veteran.”
mg986611@ohiou.edu
