Veterans Day 2006
My grandfather was MIA in Korea as a USN pilot in 1952 - Ironically he was pronounced KIA a few days later on November 11th which turned out to be my birthdate 19 years later. I was named after my other grandfather who was named after a World War I veteran and that is where the date originates.
It's a date for those other reasons that it is easy to remember.
Regardless of where or whom I am with - I remember those who served in our US Armed Forces and today I wanted to remind everyone that Chanco lost a great friend in Air Force Major William Watkins when he was KIA in April of 2003 in Iraq while flying in support for the 333rd Fighter Squadron.
I don't have the newspaper clipping in front of me - so I don't have many details but I do recall Bill made a change from the Navy to the Air Force.
"Bill" was my counselor in 1982 in my second year. He and Jevon were co counselors - our nickname was the Chanco Chargers.
Everyone has a first year at Chanco but some do not return - however if you come back it must be for good reason and my second year at Chanco was one of the best ever. For those of you that know me - you know that I have a Chanco almanac in my head and remember a lot - today when I hit the field to cover college football I will remember Bill especially and wanted to pass the thought on.
- Anthony Cox's blog
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Here's a picture of Bill
It's so sad that he's gone.
My brother Watson who went to Chanco and later worked in the kitchen spent a year in Baghdad with the Army Reserves. I was worried sick while he was there. Always keep the troops in your prayers.
I was a counselor with Bill's sister Mary Garrett and grew up with them in Halifax.
Bill Watkins
I was honored to be asked to do the funeral for Bill Watkins several years ago. It was a highly attended Funeral in Halifax. After I did my final prayer for Bill at the cemetary, all the military tribute and flyover occurred. That is when i lost it! Indeed Chanco lost a great friend, a faithful servant, and a hero for us all. I want to attach the sermon I preached that day. Farewell good Friend....We will Remember! Bill Taylor
Sermon for Major William R. Watkins, III St. John’s Episcopal Church, Halifax, VA - May 3, 2003 By The Rev. William B. Taylor, Jr.+
Each one of us must face the realities of life everyday. Each one of us faces the challenges, which beset us in our families, in our workplaces, in our Commonwealth, and in our Nation. Sometimes the realities of life are not so good. Sometimes that reality is death. Death is truly a strong power. It can separate us from those whom we love; it can bring moments of loneliness for those who survive; it can make us call into question all that we believe. Today we face that reality. And in a very real sense a face has been put on the tragedy and horror of war. Operation Iraqi Freedom has become very real for us. It has come home to Virginia; to South Boston; to Halifax County, to each one of us here gathered. It no longer just nameless faces on CNN or MSNBC. The face we see is our hero, William, Bill, “Salty” Watkins. Today we are faced with the death of a person whom we respected and loved. Indeed death is real and death is powerful.
But I am here to tell you that this is not the end of our story today! If it were, there would be no reason for us to be gathered here together. We are here because we realize that death with all its power, is not the final word, and in Christ is overcome.
The older I get, the more I realize how little I really know, but what I can tell you I do know is this from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans – “I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.”
Nothing can separate us from God and His Love. What a glorious promise this is – it turns death in all its reality into that which is beautiful, hopeful and joyful.
We American’s often think of ourselves as the most advanced people on earth, and in many ways this is true; we have been able to send men to the moon and back, we have created smart bombs and moab bombs, we have created instant communication, we have DVD’s and HDTV’s, but in other ways there is much we can learn from our neighbors in other countries, if we just stop a minute to listen. In some ways they have a less cluttered understanding of life and death. For instance, when someone dies we say something like “He has departed,” or “He has passed on,” or “She has left us.” Christians in some African countries, when talking about a loved one say, “He has arrived,” or “He has reached his destination.” Indeed this is a beautiful way of expressing the reality of death. For us as Christians, death is not the end of life; it is the beginning. It is the beginning of new life, in a much more glorious way than we have ever experienced.
William Watkins has arrived with His Lord. He knew the reality of death – he also knows the reality of death. By his deep-rooted Easter faith, Bill was a man who dared to live. And as he dared the circumstances of this life, he has helped to make this world, and this community a safer place for our children and us.
This is a very sad day, yet this is a very glad day. There is grief felt by all of us, and rightly so, but we must remember that the grief we experience is not for William, but for ourselves. There is emptiness in our lives and we are saddened. But along with our tears of sadness, we also have tears of joy. It is Joy in the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection.
Every time I would see Bill or get and e-mail, or talk with him on the phone or get the ever-faithful Christmas letter, I could experience with Bill that Joy! For Bill was one of those rare persons that, at least in my experience of him, was the eternal optimist.
It must have been ten or eleven years ago now, but as Director of Youth Ministries and Camp Chanco for our diocese, I had a grand idea that we should have a Junior High Retreat during the Christmas Break just before New Year’s. I got it all planned, designed the program and recruited staff – Bill included. We were ready for the 80 or so lively pre-adolescent teens who had signed up. But then something happened I hadn’t planned on -- SNOW. As it began to snow and accumulate, my first thought was to cancel. I called the staff folks. Bill was the first I called. I think he was stationed at Oceana in Virginia Beach at the time.
Bill said, “Lets do it!” So Bill arrived Thursday night at Camp Chanco in the blizzarding snow, then my wife and I, then a couple of others. Bill had a blue Jeep at the time and we all decided it would be lots of fun to go 4-wheeling up and down the steep road we have at Chanco to the beach on the James River. I figured that riding in a Jeep with an experienced aviator who flew A-6 Intruders, I would be pretty safe, at least he couldn’t travel several thousand miles and hour. How wrong I was. I think we spent more time airborne than on the ground.
Yes, William Watkins was born to fly. William Watkins was born to help others dare to live life to the fullest. At that same event, Bill shared his story and faith journey with 80 young teenagers, telling them of a Loving God and that they had nothing to fear as long as they knew that they are in the presence of Him who has power over death. It is in this hope that we can live, for we like Bill can believe what Jesus tells us in the Gospel reading this morning from St. John, “I am the Resurrection and the Life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.”
It is with Christ that we have the assurance of Everlasting Life. He is the one whom we follow – for we know we shall be with God in the place he has prepared for us. Today this is His promise. Today this is reality.
Many of us knew William as Bill. Still others knew him as Salty, others as Major, for another daddy, for another sweetheart, another brother, another son, and still others friend. But for all of us, we know William Randolph Watkins, III as an American, a patriot, and a true hero that has touched our lives personally and has touched every person in this Great Land we call the United States of America.
Farewell my friend Bill, until we meet again. Next time maybe you’ll take me flying! AMEN.