Inspiration comes from unexpected sources

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt. Charles Starustka
  • 60th Mission Support Group
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., --  All of us have encountered an inspiring person or people at some time or another in our lives, someone who provided guidance or played a key role in shaping our futures.

Two individuals have had a profound effect on me during the past 10 years of my career. One is retired Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Robert Gaylor who, always has a wonderful tale for any situation, told a story about sandwiches during a visit to my base back in 2005. His story inspired me to re-enlist rather than retire as I had planned.

The other individual, a man whose name I don't know, left a mark on me more recently. I overheard him utter 11 words I'll never forget.

Ten months ago, while I sat in the barber shop, patiently waiting for my number to come up, my commander sent a short email letting me know our squadron captured the wing's Eagle Trophy. I could tell by his generous use of exclamation points he was elated. The squadron had worked long and hard to achieve the goal he'd challenged us with six months earlier. It felt awesome and the folks in the squadron definitely deserved the recognition.

The event prompted me to take a minute and mull over my own goals. I quickly discovered I didn't have any. As I reflected, I realized I'd reached all the goals I set a few years earlier. So, I decided it was high time to set some new ones.

The first thing to come to mind was a deployment. Being gone for a 179 or 365 days would definitely be challenging and rewarding, but getting deployed as a chief would be tough due to the competition for those few positions across the theater.

Additionally, my mother repeatedly tells me she prays every night I won't deploy anywhere. My wife wouldn't be very happy about it either. So I thought my chances of deploying were pretty slim.

Regardless, I made a deployment one of my goals. My mind then wandered to fitness. I could definitely set a goal there and decided on shaving a minute off my next physical fitness test run. Surely, I could do that in five months. In order to bolster my speed on the track, though, I'd have to upgrade my tired old running shoes. They'd seen better days. As I continued waiting for a haircut, I noticed I was six numbers away, meaning there was plenty of time to slip out for a few minutes and check out some new shoes in the BX shoe section.

As I walked back to the athletic shoe section, I saw a man in his mid-30s with white hair wearing civilian running gear looking at different shoes. I assumed he was an off-duty military member. Two AAFES associates brought him shoes and took care of him. They were laughing, smiling and having a great time.

When I was about 8 feet away, I noticed the man had a prosthetic leg. I also heard one of the associates ask him a question. I didn't hear the question, so I'm not sure what it was exactly, but it was related to his leg. The man with the prosthetic leg smiled at him and uttered 11 words. He said "I'm OK with giving one of my legs for my country."

He then turned his head toward me and smiled as I approached. What he had said simply amazed me and I couldn't believe how positive and optimistic he was. It was absolutely incredible. I moved toward him intending to shake his hand and thank him for his service to our country, and maybe even talk a little bit. Then something happened, I began to cry. Never in my life had tears come so quickly, easily or uncontrollably.

I was embarrassed and I know he'd seen the tears in my eyes. Rather than shake his hand, I smiled at him and slipped around the corner. Once out of sight, I wiped my eyes with my sleeve, hoping no one else had seen me, remembering what an old chief had once told me, "Chiefs don't cry, sing or dance."

I didn't get a haircut or new shoes that morning. I went directly back to my office. At home that night, as my wife and I were watching TV, I told her about the white-haired gentleman with the prosthetic leg and what had happened. When I repeated what he had said, she immediately began to cry. I told her how I regretted not being able to shake his hand and thank him for his service and sacrifice he made for our country.

The next morning, as I sat in my office, an enthusiastic young major come in and said, "Chief, let's go get our flu shots and eat at the hospital chow hall today?" I told him, I'd accompany him for a flu shot. I'd even drive, but the hospital DFAC is for patients only and off-limits to us. He replied, "We're getting our flu shots, so we are considered patients. Besides you're a chief. No one is gonna say anything."

So, four hours later, we were at the hospital DFAC standing in line. The major was in front of me, talking to the person in front of him about the variety of meal choices available. While he was engaged in conversation, I got the feeling someone was watching me. I turned around and guess who was standing 2 feet away from me with a big smile on his face? It was the white-haired gentleman I'd seen the day earlier who gave one of his legs for our country.

I immediately shook his hand and he asked, "How are you doing today?" I said, "I'm doing just fine today." I thanked him for his service and his selfless sacrifice for our country. He gave me a big smile, replied "my pleasure" turned around and walked off with just as much swagger, zest and bounce in his step as any other person on the planet. As he walked off, I realized I forgot to get his name.

About a week later while on leave in Las Vegas, I took a minute to relax. As I enjoyed the moment, I got a call from my commander. I noticed he was using his impressive "official" voice. He informed me I was needed to fill a short-notice deployment for 179 days as the superintendent for the largest group in the area of responsibility, responsible for taking care of 2,300 Airmen assigned to Army combat units all across Afghanistan. I asked him how many days there were before I flew. He replied 12.

It was a rewarding deployment. I worked with some of the world's most talented and dedicated professionals and I believe we made a difference for our Air Force folks embedded with the Army.

It also was challenging and my abilities were tested daily. Our team made countless battlefield circulations and copious unfamiliar responsibilities were constantly placed on me. When things seemed difficult, impossible or I caught myself complaining, I'd remember the man with the white hair who gave one of his legs for his country.

His courage, pride and optimistic attitude were inspirational. The 11 words he uttered that day got me through those rough patches with ease, every time.