Retired Army veteran speaks to North Ridgeville Rotary Club

NORTH RIDGEVILLE — With just shy of 40 years in the army, retired Command Sergeant Major Larry May has a host of stories to tell. May, 58, described his 39-year, 24-day career to those gathered at the North Ridgeville senior center Friday afternoon, from following in his grandfather's footsteps to stand on the World War II battlefields of France, to overseeing operations in Kandahar, Afghanistan. His appearance at the center preceded Armed Forces Day, which is today. "The army has given to me way more than I gave them, in my opinion, and I really am grateful," he said. Born in Parma, raised in Lakewood and a North Ridgeville resident since 2000, May joined the army in 1983 after the housing market crash left the trained carpenter without a job. He followed three generations of his family and his older brother before him to serve in the Army. His great-grandfather served during the Spanish-American War, his grandfather in World War I, his father in World War II and his oldest brother in Vietnam. "In 2019 it was the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I and the unit I was serving in had been a player in those battles back generations ago," he said. "So they invited myself and the commander of the unit to go to France for the 100th anniversary. … I actually got to stand on the battlefields that he fought on 100 years to the day to when he fought in the trenches." When he enlisted, he served in psychological operations, meant to influence foreign allies and enemies in support of U.S. Army objectives through marketing and other campaigns. He spent 18 years — from a private to a first sergeant — in that division before being promoted to command sergeant major, a rank only 1 percent of soldiers achieve, he said. "I still don't know how it happened. … I learned well and I fooled someone," he said. In 2000 he was positioned as a command sergeant major over a quartermaster battalion and promoted throughout the years — eventually chosen to serve directly under two one-star and one two-star general. In 2009 he was stationed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, stationed with the 643rd Regional Support Group as the garrison command sergeant major for the Kandahar Airfield, overseeing the Army base there, including working with NATO forces on the base. "It's like the best of times, the worst of times," he said. You're in a place where you're laughing 90 percent of the time with people who are your peers and they're in the same amount of danger you are, the same crazy things are going on and they're dealing with problems at home and they're talking to their family. But at the same time, you build this relationship where we're all in this together and you have everybody's back." One of his proudest, but lowest moments, came from his time in Kandahar. As Garrison CSM, he oversaw every ramp ceremony for a soldier killed in action being sent home. During the height, he did 265 ceremonies in 400 days — going without sleep for 46 hours straight at one point because of the number of remains being transported out of southern Afghanistan. "The lowlight is having to do that, but that's still kind of a highlight because it's an honor," he said. He said when people ask what the highlight was of his time served, he points not to his lengthy career, but to his four children. "My kids are all good kids," he said. "We don't always get a choice in that, I realize that you can't control your kids past a certain point, but … my luckiest thing of all is all of my kids are good kids." Over the years, he said the Army has warmed — somewhat slowly — to the idea that the military can work with the individual person, instead of making the person work with the army. Compared to the mid-1980s, he said the average soldier enlisting is smarter, and questions why they're ordered to do things — and while that forces some leadership styles to change, it's better for everyone. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.