MARQUETTE —Northern Michigan University President Les Wong carefully and protectively picked up a quarter-sized bronze star attached to a red, white and blue striped ribbon.
“Right now it’s typically on my dresser,” he said. “I look at it every day.”
The medal is a Bronze Star — the country’s fourth-highest combat medal, awarded for “meritorious” service while in combat in the United States Army — once belonged to Les’ son Brian, 27.
“He informed us he’s getting the Bronze Star, and then he shows up for Christmas and gives it to me,” Les said. “It was a surprise to me.”
In 2007 Brian was awarded the star for his 15-month service in 2006 and 2007 as a communications officer and company executive officer in Iraq.
“I was just so proud of him,” Les Wong said. “It almost brings you to tears ... this is the kind of story that America is very proud of. You want your children to do something important and meaningful and service to the country is important. The medal represents the deeply meaningful commitment to his soldiers. It also means we did a good job raising him.”
Brian said giving his father the star was a way for him to acknowledge his family’s support during his time in the Army.
“The families sacrifice just as much as the soldiers in combat,” he said. “I saw it as a very simple thank you and expression of gratitude for everything he has taught me over the years and the support I received both in Iraq and when I got home. He has stood by me every step of the way and he will never know the impact he has had on me.”
While Brian feels it is an honor to have received the medal, he is quick to credit the soldiers who served with him.
“They deserve it just as much,” he said. “I couldn’t have been successful without them.”
Brian, now a Captain and Squadron Communications Officer for the 1-14 Cavalry Regiment, 3-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Lewis near Tacoma, Wash., was deployed to Iraq in June 2006. He served in northern Iraq and central Iraq in cities such as Mosul, Tal Afar, Hammam al’ Alil, Taji and Baghdad proper.
“Every day was a hard experience dealing with the heat, sand, and constant enemy threat,” he said. “But the worst experiences were learning of friends’ and co-workers’ deaths.”
For his parents, Les and Phyllis, Brian’s time in Iraq was the toughest 15 months of their lives, Les said.
“I can understand why people around him have confidence in him, but still he’s in danger every minute of the day,” Les said.
Phyllis added that she always kept her son and the men and women currently in the war in her thoughts and prayers.
“Very quickly I realized I needed to keep all of the American soldiers in my prayers,” she said. “I always tried to say ‘thank you’ to a person in the military.”
Les added that from the moment Brian left America to the moment he and Phyllis welcomed him back, their worrying did not diminish.
“Seeing him walk off the plane — that was emotional,” Les said.
Brian said he joined the military, so he could pay his way through college (he earned a degree in physics), gain leadership experience and learn technical military skills. Now after five years, he is still enjoying his work, he said.
“I have learned more in the last five years than I could have over 15 years outside the military,” Brian said.
Brian said some of his most rewarding experiences in Iraq happened after he and his team cleared neighborhoods that had been taken over by insurgents and terrorists.
“After major combat was over, families would come out and you could see the relief and hope they had on their faces knowing that there might be a chance for them after all,” he said. “While we couldn’t make life perfect for them, I don’t think anything is more powerful than giving hope to those who don’t have any.”
Although the war in Iraq has been quite controversial, Les said whether any war is right or wrong is a separate issue from the role of the U.S. military.
“The democracy that we enjoy is defended by our young people in the military services,” he said. “I hope no one ever forgets that. It’s fundamental to democracy and the definition of who we are as American citizens.”
Currently, Brian and his soldiers are planning to build voice and data networks to ensure that the soldiers can talk effectively across a battlefield. He said he doesn’t know whether he will be deployed to Iraq again at this point.
Brian Wong’s words to families of soldiers are especially resonant on this day set aside to memorialize those who have sacrificed in military service.
“Remember that your sons and daughters are the best-trained and equipped soldiers out of any military in the world. Support them any way you can,” Brian Wong said. “And they are not only fighting for the soldier next to them, but also for their country. They are among an elite few that serve ... and do so with distinction. The families suffer just as many hardships as the soldiers do on a daily basis. Thank you to all the families past and present who have served alongside their soldiers.”
