Generations are united

Like most Americans, Ryan Webb was glued to the television Tuesday, shocked over the massive destruction terrorists had wreaked upon New York and Washington.
   But by Tuesday evening, Webb, 18, a freshman at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, found himself offering prayers not only for the victims of the terrorist attacks and their families, but for two people in particular - his uncle stationed in Norfolk, Va., and his best friend stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Both men are in the Navy.
   Now Webb makes sure to include himself and those of his generation in prayers, realizing that at any given moment they may be called for duty by their country.
   "I told my parents Tuesday that should this lead to war, I plan to sign up with the Navy," Webb said. "My whole family - my grandfather, my father and my uncle - have served in the Navy."
   Webb is earning a degree in criminology and plans to one day serve his country by becoming a police officer. But he is ready, he said, to put those plans aside if necessary.
   Finding support
   Meanwhile, Webb, like many of his peers, is finding resolve and support in those who served in World War II, the Korean or Vietnam wars. Or, in those who lived through the Cuban missile crisis and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
   They don't have far to go to find these role models.
   "My grandfather was my age when he enlisted," Webb said. "I've sat there before and listened to him tell of what he saw while in the military, but I'm finally understanding what he must have gone through in his mind now that I'm going through the same thing."
   Webb's grandfather, John Chisholm, was 17 when he joined the Navy in 1955. Eight years later, while stationed in Guam and reporting for his 5 a.m. shift, he tuned into the radio and learned that JFK had been killed.
   It was one of the darkest days in Chisholm's 16-year naval career.
   "I tell my grandson that no matter what, we all have to just take it one day at a time," said Chisholm, a Vietnam War veteran.
   Robert E. Stalcup Sr., an 81-year-old World War II veteran living in Edroy, and his wife, Cathryn, have been thinking of their own grandson, 20-year-old Travis Stalcup, a sophomore at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.
   The university student has been at College Station all week, visiting friends, and the Stalcups haven't had an opportunity yet to speak with him about what transpired this week.
   Stalcup Sr. admits he hasn't shared much about his World War II experiences, but perhaps now he will, should his grandson ask.
   "Serving one's country takes a lot of nerve," Stalcup Sr. said. "I know Travis would have the dedication to do so."
   However, Cathryn Stalcup said as grandparents they naturally have mixed emotions.
   "I wouldn't want him to shirk his responsibilities, but I wouldn't want him to go either," she said. "Nobody wants these kids to have to go. But we are all going to be in this together, young and old. We must be strong and we must be in a prayerful mood day and night."
   Growing respect
   Webb has spoken with his grandfather all week about his World War II experiences and although he has always had deep respect for him, "I've got even greater respect for him now, knowing the life he's lived and all the knowledge he has," Webb said.
   "Most of us ask a veteran what this or that war was like, but we never think to ask what it was like to leave their family behind not knowing what would happen minute to minute. Those are the questions I'm asking my grandfather for the first time. Questions not about all the fighting, but about what they were going through emotionally, their mindset."
   Webb hopes this week's events will draw more of his peers closer to the role models in their own families.
   "I hope a lot of us go home and have a good, old-fashioned, heart-to-heart conversation with them," he said. "If they could do what they did, any of us can do what we have to.
   "There's a lot we can learn from them. Together, we're stronger and united we'll stand."