Commentary by Jillian Albrecht
The wonderful staff at the Barrington of Carmel was kind enough to invite me to listen to retired Gen. J. Stewart Goodwin talk on Nov. 11, Veterans Day.
Apart from being a retired brigadier general of the United States Air Force, Goodwin is the executive director of the Indiana War Memorial Commission. Goodwin may be retired as a general, but he is incredibly active as he runs, maintains and works to curate our Indiana war memorials. According to him, Indiana has the most war memorials of any state and Indianapolis dedicates the most acreage to our memorials out of every city in the nation (including Washington, D.C.). Why have Hoosiers stepped up in an unparalleled way to honor our veterans and those who currently serve? On top of everything else, Goodwin is a historian.
He spoke about his research and showed how Hoosiers have volunteered for service in disproportionately high numbers in the armed forces. It makes sense that these amazing people want to honor their fellow servicemen and women. When I asked Goodwin what to see if you are in a hurry during your War Memorial visit, he said: “The shrine room, I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere else. You probably know that the outside of the War Memorial is made with Indiana limestone, but the interior was made by craftsman from our allies: France, England, Belgium, Italy and Serbia.”
I had no idea! What a beautiful sentiment and how lucky are we to be able to visit it for free? Goodwin left us with another beautiful sentiment: “This is probably the last thing you expect to hear from someone like me, but today I ask you to pray for peace,” he said.
Veterans like Goodwin may be part of an older demographic, but I got a perfectly relevant reminder that men like him, not only made our nation great, but are continuing to make it even better.
