Veterans Day is a day when we honor the heroes who protect our land and our freedom. As I thought about those heroes, my Dad’s Purple Heart and my two grandsons who are now on active duty, I wanted to find one person who exemplifies the sacrifices our active military and our veterans make. 

My nephew, Joey Bridges was recognized for his military service in 2012 when Pell City officials presented him with a “Proclamation of Appreciation.”

After the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, Bridges enlisted in the National Guard. The 26-year-old requested transfer to the 1st Cavalry Division in Fort Hood, Texas, before being deployed to Iraq as part of “Operation Enduring Freedom.”

On April 6, 2004, Bridges and seven other soldiers were ordered seize a mosque in Bagdad believed to be storing weapons. The two armored Humvees, with Bridges manning the machine gun, moved into position at the site.

After seeing the squad, Bridges said insurgents began taunting them by burning American flags and arming themselves. He said his squad radioed headquarters for further orders.

According to Bridges, the insurgents blocked their exit by setting two trucks on fire. A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) was fired at them from the mosque. As they prepared to drive through the blockade, the men said their goodbyes. Bridges remembers someone saying “If this is where we’re going to die, we’re going to do it well,” and “Let’s make this count!”

As the squad crashed through the blockade, Bridges was hit in his upper right leg by enemy fire. His femur shattered, Bridges continued to provide covering fire until a bullet ricocheted off his Kevlar body armor entering his jaw.

Bridges woke to find 18-year old Specialist Taylor Burke administering an IV and trying to hold him down and still. Burkes covered Bridges body with his own saving his life.

The surgery was touch-and-go. Bridges had to be revived when his heart stopped. His jaw had to be rebuilt. It was wired shut for a period of time. Bridges spent more than nine months in hospital beds and wheelchairs, enduring 13 different surgeries to repair the damage those bullets. He said he also suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Bridges medically retired from active duty in 2006. He said his sacrifice was worth it. He is proud to have served. If not for his wounds, he would return to duty.

He quotes author George Orwell when talking about his sacrifice.

“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.”

I was living in Virginia when I heard he had been seriously wounded in Iraq and was in the hospital at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

My husband and I went to see him.

I didn’t recognize him. I didn’t know what to say.

“I’ve never stood so close to a hero before,” I told him.

“Shucks, I ain’t no hero,” he said. “I was just doing my job.”

He Was Just Doing His Job That Day

Rita Aiken Moritz

In horror he watched as the towers fell,

and thousands died in that burning hell.

He had to answer his heart’s brave call

to go after the ones who made them fall.

It was never a question of whether he’d stay.

He was just doing his job that day.

Surrounded in battle, preparing to die…

rebellious, defiant, this was their cry:

“If we’re going to die, we’ll do it well.

Let’s make it count and give ‘em hell.”

Of course there was fear, but he fought anyway.

He was just doing his job that day

I wondered what I could possibly say

to this man, who was broken in every way.

As I stood there beside a hero’s bed,

who could have stayed home but went instead.

I’m so glad that he didn’t walk away

from doing his job on that terrible day.

This man is a hero who almost died

as he fought for a country he serves with pride.

Does he think he’s a hero? Why, not at all…

just one of many who answered the call.

So I’ll just repeat what I heard him say:

“I was just doing my job that day.”

Lord, may we for the rest of our lives

remember the men who leave their wives,

their children, their homes, and all they hold dear

to go and to fight in spite of their fear.

Brave men protecting our American way

just doing their job each and every day.