Photo By Spc. Rebeca Soria | Tony Justi gets pinned as 2nd Lt. by his Advanced Individualized Training company...... read more read more
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Joseph Higgins and Retired Lieutenant Colonel Tony Justi, with a combined 31 years of service, are two prime examples of what the meaning of Veterans Day is all about.
Joseph Higgins was born on February 4, 1975, on the South Side of Chicago, and from an early age knew that he was going to serve in the U.S. Army. Having his grandfathers, who both served in World War II, and his father, who also served in the Army, as inspiration, Higgins knew that the Army was the right choice for his future. After graduating high school in 1993, he went to the recruiters and signed up to join the U.S. Army Reserves.
“It was scary at first. The first time I had ever been on a plane was headed to basic,” said Higgins, when he was reminiscing about basic training. “It was a temperature shock, it was so cold in Chicago when I left and was nice and warm at Fort Jackson.”
After graduating from basic training and completing his Advanced Individualized Training (AIT), Higgins returned to his home. To perform his tasks and duties, he would be traveling to Glenview Naval Air Station in Glenview, Illinois. However, not long after getting back home, Higgins realized he wanted to have a more active role in the Military and signed up for active duty. Soon after, he left for Fort Campbell, Kentucky in January of 1994.
After being stationed at Fort Campbell for four years, Higgins received his first overseas assignment to Kuwait for around nine months, Bosnia for around a year, and his second stint in Kuwait and Iraq for around another year.
According to Higgins, “Two of my three deployments I volunteered, so we sat down as a family and talked it out. For the third, I just told them, ‘In a month, I am leaving for a year.’ They were not thrilled, but understood.”
Going through three deployments can take its toll on people, though, and Higgins was not immune to that feeling.
Higgins expressed, “I felt relieved, I made it home. I was sure I wasn't going to make it back. I also felt guilty because I made it home and others did not. It was a gut punch. I had just seen them that morning in the camp. They went on a night flight and I didn't hear about it till the next morning.”
Just returning from Iraq, and hitting the 10-year mark in the Army, Higgins was faced with a decision, staying in the Army and risking being deployed more than being home or watching his young children grow into adults. He then made the tough decision to try and transition back into civilian life. Like many others before him, he realized that making the switch back to civilian life was more challenging than he thought was possible.
“It was hard. Your friends in the Military deploy and change duty stations, so next thing you know, everyone you knew is gone,” Higgins recounted. “Civilian friends are great but they don't have the same shared experiences, and things like that, so they only are able to understand you to a point.”
He struggled to acclimate to the civilian lifestyle after spending many years in a very structured environment such as the Military and witnessing so many life-changing events.
“I wish they could understand the level of personal sacrifice it takes to serve. The time away from home, the time away from family,” proclaimed Higgins. “But at the same time, it's some of the best times you spend in your life.”
He eventually started working for American Legion 184, a Veteran-run organization for Veterans who might be struggling to cope with civilian life, while also supporting those who might just need a sense of belonging with others who have had similar experiences. After being made a delegate for the Chatham County Veterans Council, Higgins was able to run for the Office of Chairman, which he won by three votes the first time he ran. On the Veterans Council, he holds Veteran-specific events to create a sense of belonging and offer support in many ways to Service Members and Veterans who might suffer from various ailments due to their service. Higgins understands that many people who have served might be suffering in ways that cannot be outwardly seen and strives to help as many Veterans as possible.
“To the Veterans, if you aren't involved, get out there. There are less fortunate brothers and sisters that need help, and it's our duty to help them,” Higgins stated. “We may have removed
the uniform, but we are all still family.”
Tony Justi was born in 1952, in Saugerties, New York. Wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps, who served in World War II, Justi knew that he would eventually join the U.S. Army. After dropping out of high school and obtaining his GED, he moved with his family to Florida, where he ended up going to the University of South Florida to get his degree. Bouncing around from job to job, he never quite settled down into one specific role. However, Justi never really found his calling, until 1980, when he sought out a recruiter and enlisted in the Army. Being one of the oldest men in basic training, at 27 years old, was an interesting experience for him as he was surrounded by many 17 to 18-year-olds.
“So there were some 17-year-olds and I was like, counseling them, ‘You know, stick it out. You can do it,’” remembered Justi. “They didn't call me pop, but yeah, they saw me as more of a father figure.”
Going into the Army with a college degree, Justi was automatically made into a Private First Class. After arriving at Fort Gordon, Georgia, now known as Fort Eisenhower, he was reporting to his AIT Company, and while signing in, the First Sergeant of the company, First Sergeant John Sours, saw that Justi had his college degree and told him to come to his office first thing Monday morning.
“And he goes, we're gonna start your paperwork for Officer Candidate School,” said Justi. “And sure enough, he helped me get my paperwork into OCS and by the time I graduated from AIT, I had already been accepted to OCS.”
After graduating from AIT and OCS, Justi was ready to go to his first duty station, Fort Huachuca, Arizona. When he got to Fort Huachuca, he started as a platoon leader in the Electronic Proving Ground and the Tactical Signal Brigade. After spending a few years there, he was stationed in Germany in the Seven Signal Brigade, commanding a company in the Signal Battalion Area in Bremerhaven, a separate signal company directly under the brigade headquarters.
“Making sure the soldiers stay warm and stay fed was my job, as the company commander, and making sure that they got down there safely,” stated Justi.
While serving in Germany for three years, Operation Desert Storm began. After speaking with a man he previously served with, a call came in for Justi by name to be deployed to Desert Storm. He went straight to work in the U.S. Central Command headquarters directly under General Norman Schwarzkopf. He helped run the largest Tactical Voice Network that ever existed and then went back to Fort Gordon. Not long after returning to the States, he was selected to help run the Saudi Arabian Signal Base in Iran.
After Iran, Justi arrived back in the States at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to attend Command and General Staff College, then to Fort Stewart in 1995. Justi was with a couple of units, such as the 123rd Signal Battalion and the 24th Core Support Group. His final assignment at Fort Stewart was as the Director of Information Management and then he retired in 2001 as a Lieutenant Colonel.
After a 21-year-long career in the Army, Justi decided he wanted to do more to support the families who had lost loved ones, so he helped start the “Wreaths for Warriors Walk”. The Warriors Walk is the line of 469 trees that create a walking path on Fort Stewart for all the Soldiers who lost their lives while serving in the 3rd Infantry Division. Working with other military retirees, civilian retirees, and with the full support of the 3rd Infantry Division, they decorate the pathway to show the families of those fallen Soldiers that they will never be forgotten.
Both of these men understand what it is like to lose someone whom they were close to in the Army, and they both understand that some of the Service Members who come back from a deployment might need more help than others. They have found ways to help keep the family aspect of the Army alive and to support those who need it. By working with other Veterans and by never forgetting those who have lost their lives, they embody the brother and sisterhood that the Army provides.
War envelops a person's life, waging a constant battle within the body, fighting for who is in charge, the person or the memories. Going into battle changes a person mentally, whether they lost someone close to them or just watched war being waged. The Service Members watch their friends fall, never getting up again, seeing the horrors unfold in front of them, and then having to come back with scars that no one can see. The people at home, waiting for their service member to return, only to feel the pain of receiving the unfortunate news that they will never walk through the door again. Losing someone in battle, whether they were your friends or your family members, affects everyone differently. Veterans Day is a day of remembrance for all of the Service Members who have passed away and for those who lost a part of themselves while defending the freedoms of this country.
| Date Taken: | 11.11.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 11.11.2023 12:05 |
| Story ID: | 457669 |
| Location: | FORT STEWART, GEORGIA, US |
| Hometown: | CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, US |
| Hometown: | SAUGERTIES, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 167 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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