Military service creates legacies. And the contributions of veterans shape support structures for generations. 

Bob Y., a resident at Garden Ridge, located on the Ridges at Peoria Senior Living campus in Peoria, AZ, a community managed by The Goodman Group, embodied this enduring impact. His 21-year Air Force career included helping create infrastructure still used by millions of military families and his story offers insights into resources available to veterans and their loved ones.

A Life of Service and Sacrifice

Bob has been all around the world. Well, nearly all around the world.

"I never got to Europe," he recalled. Not that he didn't get the chance, just a couple of years before he retired from the Air Force in the mid-1970s, he actually turned down the opportunity to station in Germany. Personnel wanted him in Tempelhof Central Airport (TCA), an American Air Force Base in West Berlin that closed in 1994.

The post would've meant another four years abroad, and his family couldn't join him for the first six months. By that time, Bob, then an electronic warfare officer with the Air Force and now a resident at Garden Ridge, was ready to wrap up his military career. 

He gave us a look back at his two decade run not with regret or self-accolades, but with frankness and a focus on the future.

Joining the Air Force

Whatever carried Bob through his years of military service (and across more continents than most will see in their lives) has been in him a lot longer than 21 years. Three years after graduating high school and joining the workforce at a railroad, Bob "decided to get an education." A deceptively simple phrase for what he actually did.

Between 1950 and 1954, Bob earned his Bachelor of Science in business education and graduated on time with a full course load; met and courted Shirley, the woman who would become his wife; pledged to a fraternity; and enlisted in the Air Force reserves; all while holding his job with the railroad. "And I haven't slowed down yet," Bob said, reflecting on a lifetime of perseverance.

Bob's dream to get airborne may have been quashed by a glut of pilots, but when he was offered the position of aircraft controller after graduation, his course was set as a full-time member of the United States Air Force.

Memories of Service

Bob's memories from two decades in uniform span continents and seasons. 

He remembered 75 inches of snow in Newfoundland at Goose Bay Labrador Air Force base delaying his return from a curling competition, receiving a Commendation Medal for his years of non-combat service, Japanese children sprinting through his rental home to see their first snow while he and Shirley were stationed in Nagoya, the people he spent those years with so long ago, and being one of the creators of the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS), a sophisticated database of service members and veterans still in use today.

The DEERS system Bob helped create continues serving millions of military families today. DEERS now includes all uniformed service members, including the newly established Space Force, along with their families, retirees and eligible dependents. The system remains essential for accessing TRICARE healthcare benefits, military ID cards and other crucial services veterans and their families have earned.

"I made a lot of friends, and I've lost some," Bob said, recalling the decades between his discharge and today for just a moment before turning his gaze toward the present. "Some I'm even friends with on Facebook."

Looking Toward the Future on Veterans Day

Bob made it a point to mention that his service uniform still fits. He wears it on Veterans Day. But even on a day dedicated to people as dedicated as he is, Bob doesn't take credit for his accomplishments. "Veterans Day means a whole lot to me because I'm thankful for the service members out there," he says.

Donning his uniform and reflecting on his brothers- and sisters-in-arms help Bob remember the joy he felt to be part of the Air Force . Rituals like that also remind him of the challenges which, to him, proved he was on the right path.

"I had some great commanders, and some that weren't so great," Bob said with a chuckle. His memories of being stationed apart from his family are remembered with the same sense of perseverance. "I spent a lot of time away from my family, but I knew it was my duty to do that," he shares.

At his longest stretch, they spent over two and a half years apart. But like Bob does, they found a way to overcome that challenge. Shortly after getting married, he and Shirley bought tape recorders to send messages, sometimes across thousands of miles, just to hear each other's voices again.

For Air Force veterans and families, like Bob’s, looking for information about benefits and resources, the Department of Veterans Affairs offers support from healthcare and education to career counseling and home loans.

Senior living communities managed by The Goodman Group honor veterans through the Valiant Veterans® program and are proud to offer U.S. veterans a 5% discount off their monthly rent for the length of their lease as our way of saying ‘thank you’.* 

Pursuing New Dreams After Service

Bob's post-Air Force years gave him perspective on the past, but they've also helped him look forward. "One thing I wanted to prove to myself after I retired was I wanted to learn how to fly," he said. Sure enough, he followed his daughter's lead and obtained (and still holds) his pilot's license in the years following his discharge. 

Actually, many veterans continue pursuing aviation through programs like the GI Bill flight training benefits, which help fund pilot certifications and flight school expenses.

While Bob is not one for the limelight, committing his memories to posterity is also something he is becoming increasingly comfortable with. He was interviewed for Since You Asked, an ongoing publication by the Veterans Heritage Project that commits former service members' stories to the Library of Congress. 

This Project, created by Congress in 2000, continues preserving firsthand accounts from veterans of all service eras. Families can contribute their loved one's stories through audio or video interviews, photographs, letters and memoirs. The project has collected over 121,000 individual veteran narratives, so future generations can hear directly from those who served.

Bob contributed an article to another book in the series. He's written a memoir charting more than two decades of service, starting with the ROTC at Ball State University called 21 and Done.

Even when he's the subject of someone else's story and even when it's his time to be remembered, it's clear Bob's time with the American military has left him with an extremely personal reverence that borders on spiritual. 

"When I see the American flag out there waving," he said, "it still gives me chills."

*Discount does not apply to second person fee, pet fee, care services or packages, or à la carte service charges. Additional terms and conditions apply. Contact the managed senior living community directly for details.