PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. — Every year on Veterans Day, students at Port Washington High School file into the auditorium to honor the graduates who served their country — and every year, the school's Wall of Honor grows a little larger.
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The wall lists graduates who performed "meritorious service" to the country. This year, four names are being added. Of those four, retired U.S. Army veteran Rob Clearwater is the only one still living.
Clearwater grew up in Port Washington and enlisted after high school, following in his father's footsteps. He served overseas in Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield as an M1 tank mechanic.
"At night, when we were on guard duty, you could hear the missiles being launched from behind us, right, and then off in the distance, in front of us, you'd see the flash from the bombs going off," Clearwater said. "I just thought of it as, I guess, my duty."
The skills he gained in the military shaped the rest of his life. Clearwater has spent more than 30 years in maintenance and engineering and now works in an office at paint manufacturer Diamond Vogel.
"I learned a lot of things while I was in the Army, and it helped me turn it into a career basically," Clearwater said.
The recognition at his old high school moved him deeply. His voice broke as he addressed the crowd.
"This recognition means a great deal to me and my family. Thank you," Clearwater said.
That same sense of calling is now inspiring a new generation. Port Washington High School senior Maliyah Tuszkiewicz is enlisting in the Navy after graduation — much as Clearwater did decades ago.
"You see them standing up there, and they just look so proud," Tuszkiewicz said. "And it's like I want to be like that. I want to be like them."
Tuszkiewicz said her decision was shaped by the veterans she has come to know.
"I work in a nursing home, and I actually talk to a lot of veterans. And hearing about their stories is probably the coolest thing about it, and what really compelled me to really go through with it," Tuszkiewicz said.
For both of them, service is not a burden or a chore, but a calling — a commonality shared across generations.
"To have integrity, to be accountable, and to know that there are things out there bigger than yourself," Clearwater said.
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