A Salute To Our Veterans

With Veteran’s Day almost here, I wanted to take time to thank all the brave veterans who have served this great nation.  Several years ago, I had the honor of speaking to three Veterans, each with their own story, but all with one thing in common; they have unselfishly given of themselves so that we may enjoy the freedoms that many of us take for granted in the United States of America. Allow me the pleasure of introducing these outstanding and extraordinary men, who all live in Sandy Springs, Georgia! 


Charles Bernath, (retired)-(Army Staff Sergeant)- He served for 2 years shortly after WWII. He was stationed in the Philippines and Japan with the occupation forces. At home and in his neighborhood, he is known as a wonderful gardener. His patio is always full of beautiful seasonal plants and flowers. However, in the service he was known for his communications skills.  He received a meritorious service accommodation for his service in Japan from December 13, 1945 to July 20, 1946 for “performing his duties in an outstanding manner and for instituting training for experienced personnel. Sergeant Bernath voluntarily devoted many hours of work beyond the call of duty to  accomplish this task, and in doing so he contributed materially to the success of the operation.”

Charles Bernath-2003

His most outstanding memory of the time was the unbelievable poverty and child starvation he saw in the Philippines, and when he witnessed an American P38 plane crash into the side of a mountain. To this day, he does not know why that tragedy happened. His advice for those men and women currently serving is to “stay healthy, be aware of your surroundings, and try to take advantage of any pleasant situation that you can.” He tried to create some positive memories of being in Japan by traveling all over, and has many photographs that he shared of important monuments like the Great Buddha and geographical sites like Mt. Fuji

Charles Bernath-During
service shortly after WWII

Joe North- (retired)-(Submarine Navy)– He served on the USS Queenfish from WWII from February 1943 until the end in 1945. Being in the Submarine Navy obviously required extra training, special skills and was very dangerous. Therefore, these men were awarded hazard pay. On their very first war patrol, which generally lasted 45-60 days, the Queenfish crew sank 4 ships in a run around Northern Luzon in the Philippines. Everyone in the crew was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation, by then President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. On their last patrol, they picked up around 16 British and Australian prisoners of war. Three of them died on board. They were starving to death. “It was very sad; they looked like skeletons. They had been captured in Singapore and were severely mistreated and used as slave labor,” said Mr. North. “One of our sister ships, the USS Finback, picked-up an aviator who was shot down. It was former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, father of the current President George W. Bush.”


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