THE JANITOR

In Colorado there is a magnificent organization called the Air Force Academy. It was formed shortly after WW 2 and for many years now it has been the training ground for those thousands of young men and women who are the guardians of the skies above us -- The Army Air Force. They sit at the controls of a multi-tonned aircraft and are there to protect us from our enemies. They are the graduates of that Academy.

In the halls of that organization shuffles an elderly man, head down, wearing nondescript clothing and rarely smiling or even acknowledging the many officers that briskly walk around him, hurrying to their classes and ignoring that invisible man that keeps the walls, the halls, the latrines and in general anything that needs to be maintained, in a clean, orderly manner. He is the Janitor of this vast community and his work is beyond reproach. Everywhere you look, if you take the time, is evidence of his effort to do his duty as he understands it.

No one pays any attention to him or has any appreciation for his work. After all he is the Janitor and practically hidden from their view. He just quietly goes about his duty, never complaining or even noticing those around him. One day in one of the stories told in a paper that circulates through similar industries an article is noticed by one of the young officers. It is a story of a William Anderson who had been awarded the Medal of Honor during WW2 for extreme heroism in the face of an enemy that had resulted in the single handed destruction of 3 machine gun emplacements, using only his rifle and hand grenades. What a great story!!

But wait. Isn’t that the name of the Janitor here in these buildings? Could it be? Nah! He is almost pitiful as he shuffles around, with his head down, never, looking at us, shabbily dressed with his cap askew. “Excuse me but by any chance are you the William Anderson that is the winner of the Medal of Honor?” The Janitor looks embarrassed. As he nods, his head looks off into the distance as though he doesn’t want to be noticed. But the word gets around and those that had hurried past him are now calling out “Hi Mr. Anderson, Hi Bill”.

There is a difference in the demeanor of not only those that are calling out to him in recognition of his courage, bravery and strength of duty, but Bill is beginning to straighten up, to look ahead and to appear to improve his appearance. He is not just a guy that keeps our toilets clean, he is a Medal of Honor winner and is one of only 6 men such as he, still alive from WW2 and while before he was only an in house employee, he is now a valued member of this huge community. How wonderful to finally receive some notice from these young men and women who will one day, possibly, be faced with the same challenge--to rise to the height necessary to courageously defeat an enemy threatening to destroy us. That enemy may wear different faces--the man down the street, the one running for office, the one already in office or the man at whom we have laughed. Who are the enemies of today ?

May we live with the hope that out from amidst these many enemies, there will, once again, arise a person to meet them head on-- one who, with magnificent courage, without concern for his own life, but with a duty to carry out. And in the turbulence of the world in which we now live, will there be another Janitor?