Page 24 - Senior Link Magazine Summer 2025 - Online Magazine

EXCEPTIONAL SENIORS

Airmen who were facing the conflicts. He was one of a Many countries of the world have the attitude that
handful of priests young enough to serve. The Episcopal culture is very collective, and value the individual less
Bishop of the Armed Forces reached out to him, and, after than the community. That was the attitude in Europe
spending 45 minutes praying over it, David decided he when our ancestors left there and moved to America.
couldn’t turn down the call. Those ancestors brought with them the attitude that the
individual counts regardless of his or her ancestry. One of
He chose to join the Navy because he knew so little about the reasons David loves this country is that we continue
it. If he’d returned to the Army, he’d be tempted to think to hold both of these rather opposing values together in a
like a combat arms officer; but in the Navy it would be creative tension. What I need and what we need may be
easier to focus on the spiritual and moral well-being two different things, but we work together to preserve
of the Sailors, and work with the line officers in how both of those. As a people, we do a better job of managing
to conduct the fight to include those concepts. Naval the tension between these two values than any other
Line Officers are trained in technical areas of strategy country.
and warfare so they don’t necessarily think in terms of
attending to the well-being of their men and women. He David and his wife retired to their farm in Levelland
focused on helping leaders better understand how to lead in March of 2024, and he is now the Human Resources
their people and also care for them so they could fight Director at Carillon Senior Living. His pride in this
again, directing support to those struggling with stresses country and his focus on the individual’s importance
and challenges and helping them maintain the resilience in the success of the group, shines through in his
required to do the work needed. interactions with Carillon employees and residents alike.

Over the years, David served on numerous warships,
in Marine combat units, and in Naval installations
around the world and throughout the U.S. His message
of including spiritual, mental, and moral strength
into strategies spread and, by the time he retired
as a Navy Captain, was Atlantic Fleet Chaplain,
overseeing the spiritual, moral, and mental well-
being of more than 80,000 Sailors and Marines in 85
warships and combat units. In that role, he served as
advisor and confidant to very senior leaders to bring
spiritual and moral aspects to decisions they made.

Part of what it means to be an American warrior is
to embrace an understanding of the warrior ethos
that holds the individual warfighter in high regard as Looking Ahead
well as holding the collective work of accomplishing
the mission as paramount. Central to the American * Fall Veterans Edition *
way of warfighting is this rather unique quality of
simultaneously valuing both the individual war
fighter and the critical role that the unit, crew, or * Winter Music & Arts Edition *
team plays in achieving victory. Our Sailors, Marines,
Soldiers, and Airmen are not mere “pawns” on the Do you have a story or know of a story
commander’s chess board, but individually and
together form the most formidable fighting force in that fits...
the world.
PLEASE CONTACT ME
It is part of that tapestry mentioned earlier, a
combined respect for the individual and for the
community. America continues to be an experiment
in whether or not we can respect the rights and Erin Agee 806-441-3955
independence of the individual on the one hand eagee7@outlook.com
and the need for all of us to work together in a
community on the other hand. Military service is a
very intense laboratory for that experiment. www.lubbockseniorlink.com

24 Lubbock Senior Link