Walking through the halls of Homestead, people don’t often think about the lives of those they are passing. Many of these passers-by have stories that no one thinks about. For example, many students have no idea that we have many military connections in Homestead: a member of the Reserve Coast Guard, Mr. Chris Fox; a Vietnam-era veteran, Mr. Michael Kaske; many alumni who serve and many students considering lives as soldiers.

As a sophomore in college, Mr. Fox, special education teacher, decided committing to the Coast Guard would benefit him greatly. His decision came down to his need for money and the desire to serve his country. Mr. Fox went through eight weeks of a boot camp full of detailed training before officially joining the Coast Guard. “My responsibilities are to supervise men and women in the reserves for both search and rescue stations in Milwaukee and Sheboygan. My job is to make sure that they are ready for deployment at any time of the day or night in order to respond to any natural disasters or call to active duty in times of war. I could get called at any moment,” Mr. Fox explained.

Being in any branch of the military comes with great sacrifices. Mr. Fox gives up a weekend every month and two weeks in the summer to work full time for the Coast Guard. During past times of natural disaster in America, Mr. Fox sacrificed from 30 days to six-and-a-half months without any contact with his friends or family. As hard as it is to leave his family so often, his love of serving his country remains.

The overall experience for Mr. Fox has brought various surprises into his life. “I didn’t realize [the lessons learned in boot camp] would follow me all the way through my career. I was surprised that the little things like paying attention to details would follow through the management roles,” Mr. Fox explained. His lessons learned throughout training and service for the Coast Guard has greatly impacted him as a person. “I’m really surprised at how natural it feels now to give up that weekend to serve and how I still love, after 27 years, putting on that uniform,” Mr. Fox concluded.

The draft is no longer something to worry about for the average 18 year old, but the time of the Vietnam War, it was an expected protocol for men aged 18-45. Mr. Michael Kaske, custodian, was drafted and served in the United States Army from January of 1970 to January of 1973, spending over two of those three years in Japan.

Mr. Kaske received a college deference after his birthday was picked 33rd in the draft lottery, so he was able to finish college before serving. He is considered a “Vietnam-era veteran,” meaning that he served during the Vietnam war, but was not stationed in the country itself.

However, he was not a soldier as one might usually think. Mr. Kaske served his country as a pharmacy technician, working in hospitals with wounded soldiers. “I didn’t want to be just a regular soldier, and the pharmacy position was open,” Mr. Kaske said. He worked at two hospitals while in Japan – both of which were filled to capacity with 1,000 injured soldiers. Mr. Kaske explained that his job (along with the other army working at the hospital) was to “try to get [the injured] back to the States.”

According to Mr. Kaske, the most surprising thing about being in the United States Army was “seeing all the injuries and what war actually does to people.” Although far from home in a gory job, he wasn’t nervous to serve because he had been expecting to enter for a while. Even after he served his draft requirement of two years, he enlisted and served longer than necessary to help the soldiers in the hospital.

Alec Nagel, Homestead Class of ’13, went straight into the military after his senior year of high school. “I was in first grade and was watching TV. I sat and watched planes crash and kill people inside the [United States]. Ever since then, I wanted to serve. To give my life so others may live theirs is something I really wanted to do,” Nagel explained. As time went on he did his research and found that he was determined to go into the Marine Corps.

Senior year, he enjoyed spending the time with his friends and family because soon he would be off to boot camp. Nagel made his way up to be an 0311 Infantry Rifleman Team Leader and to walking 15 or more miles a day with over 80 pounds of gear on. “My brothers [other Marines] and I, day in and day out, do things that I never would have thought humanly possible. From physical tasks that push you past limits that most would never imagine to mental challenges that are hard to perceive through, it’s all a shock,” Nagel said.

As time moved on, his fellow Marines didn’t just become his friends, but also his brothers. “Knowing that what you do, how hard you train, and how hard you work isn’t just a job is pretty hard. In combat, it’s not about yourself or your life. It’s about the Marine on your left and right. You hold their life in your hands. You’re their ticket home and you will give all you can to make sure they get home. So the biggest challenge: knowing you hold someone’s life in your hands,” Nagel said. He takes responsibility for three other Marines and makes sure they are always on task. Nagel takes the privilege of being the big brother to those Marines and looking out for them and being there for them. Though he left his friends and family for a while, he has formed a second family with the other Marines around him.