Posted by
The Patriot on Monday, October 22, 2007 9:41:16 AM
I first met LTC William "Bill" Ledgerwood thirty years ago, as a skinny 14-year old freshman at Jefferson County High School in East Tennessee. He was the Senior Army Instructor of the JROTC program at the school, and I was a new enrollee. I spent the next four years under his tutelage and leadership learning lessons of discipline, service, integrity, and leadership as I would learn nowhere else. After I
graduated high school, I went to college, got a degree, and set out to
see the world. I did it by continuing my military education in the
ROTC program at East Tennessee State University, getting a commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S.
Army, and beginning a life that took me far from home for many years.
Last weekend I returned to my hometown of Jefferson City, Tennessee to attend LTC Ledgerwood's funeral. He had passed away the previous Thursday after an extended struggle with Alzheimer's at the age of 78. So I packed up a suit and an overnight bag, got in my truck, and drove four hours down I-75 and thirty years into my past.
As I drove, I reflected on LTC Ledgerwood, his life, and what it had meant to me. I tried to think about what I would say, how I would express the impact he had on my life. The obvious answer at first was the lessons I mentioned before: discipline, service, integrity, and leadership. However, I was struggling to put my finger on exactly what it was that he taught me about those things. These were lessons which had stood by me through college and my military service, and continue to serve me today. So what did he teach me about these things? I couldn't for the life of me identify a single specific thing that he had taught me about these principles which are so important, and I felt a little ashamed.
But it wasn't long before the realization came: it was not important what he taught me about discipline, service, integrity, and leadership. I am a work in progress, and learn more about these things every day. The truth he taught was simply that these things are important. He taught the principles, to be sure, but the real teaching was simply that these things are important at all. With that lesson learned, I was equipped to step out on the path that was set before me and follow it well.
LTC Bill Ledgerwood was a career Army officer who piloted both fixed wing aircraft and helicopters, served two tours in Vietnam, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Bronze Star for his service. An avid outdoorsman, he was a skilled and enthusiastic hunter and fisherman. He was also a passionate and accomplished artist; his wildlife paintings were regular finalists in duck and trout stamp competitions for 20 years. A print of one of his paintings hangs over my fireplace today. He raised a beautiful and loving family. He was a complete, classic gentleman; a warrior poet in every sense of the word.
Unfortunately, the journey he started me on took me sometimes thousands of miles from home, so he was not really physically present in my life after high school. I had not seen him for years. But he was present in my life in a bigger way, and has been every day since that first meeting 30 years ago, because he taught me to recognize what was important and to pursue it. So I was saddened at his passing, but uplifted with the pride of having known him. I cherished the opportunity to celebrate his life, honor his memory, and thank him for taking a 14-year old boy and showing him the path.