This is our last week of The Chimes before Thanksgiving break, so in the long standing tradition of being thankful, I have been blessed with the opportunity to share something close to my heart.

It was a cold and rainy evening in May of 2005. I was a 14 year-old punk on an east coast trip with my 8th grade class led by my dad.

Needless to say, what concerned me most evey day was how to irritate security at every monument and how to impress the cute blonde from my homeroom.

However, on this very peculiar night, my dad had asked the tour guide to make a special stop — something he had been continually doing, hoping to make my east coast trip a special one.

I got off the bus alone, and began to walk with him towards a dimly lit memorial full of solemn statues and names, dates and other miscellaneous things that we had continually seen throughout the trip.

However, as I got closer to each ghostly statue, I began to notice the look of hallowed men, their faces reflecting perhaps the idea that they had been long forgotten.

Engraved in bold loud letters stood Korean War Memorial and some insignia relating to the phrase, “Never forgotten.”

As I walked through the memorial that was bustling with other Jr. Highers, the crowd began to separate like the Red Sea. Here, a Korean-American student realized the importance of the statues in front of him.

If it weren’t for those men, the forgotten war heroes, I personally would not be here on a beautiful campus writing this.

Tears streamed down my face, as people slowly turned to now watch me, as I honored the men who sacrificed their lives for me, and every other Korean that now enjoys freedom in the south peninsula.

So in light of Thanksgiving, I’d like to thank every veteran who has served our country.

From a personal level of gratitude I would like to thank every veteran who I’ve ever come across, but that would take more room than my editors would like to provide.

So first off, I’d like to thank Jon Thompson, United States Marine Corps. You can see my blog on The Chimes Web site for more info on him. He’s a hero, someone I now look up to, and someone I can’t cover in enough prayers.

Second, I’d like to thank all the R.O.T.C. students representing Biola and our country. Not only is our country thankful, but our school is too.

We are proud of you Eagles, and we want to do everything we can in our power to continually pray for you and the troops.

We don’t necessarily understand what it’s like to go through what you eventually will, but we do understand the sacrifice for people like us, who often times don’t deserve your service.

Finally, I’d like to thank my dad, Second Class Machinist Mate Tim Fier. I have never thanked him for his service, and I suppose now is the right time to do so.
My dad served in Vietnam in the United States Navy on the USS Enterprise. He was there in Saigon and many other conflicts.

Often times, he and the rest of the sailors do not get the credit they deserve because he was on the floating city and not in the jungle. However, they were under horrendous pressure to ensure safety around the world on every sea, and to that we too owe our gratitude.

My dad served bravely and on top of that he survived the military and walked away an even stronger believer. My dad is my hero, and someone I owe a lot to. I hope that one day, I can do half the things he did, and half as well. He grew up fatherless, and often times alone, and yet continues to display the strongest of characters I know.

I’m an adopted, 19-year-old Korean-American, who needs to start thanking people a lot more. I hope that this is the start of it.

Thanks dad, and every serviceman and woman of this country. I can’t ever repay you.