Hockey, heroism come together

One day, as the infantry was preparing to climb out of a ravine and advance over a hill where the enemy and death for some surely awaited, a sergeant asked several combat engineers to stack their dynamite and trinitrotoluene and grenades and other explosives into a pile.

It grew to about 8 feet high and 12 feet wide, a small mountain of perilous devices that with one spark could light up a village miles away.

He then ordered the soldiers to move out, all but John DeGroot.

"He told me to stay there and watch the pile," DeGroot said. "I thought, 'Holy Christ.' I told him I wanted to go with the guys. He asked if I was crazy, that some of them were about to be killed over the ridge, that all I had to do was stand there.

"He said, 'If the (enemy) hits here, you won't even know it. There will be nothing left of you. You won't feel a thing. You're the lucky one.' I never thought about it like that. From that moment on, I wasn't afraid of anything."

And were some of those soldiers killed over the ridge?

"Sure, of course," DeGroot said.

Veterans Day is Sunday, when we again honor those who served our country within all branches of military, when we give thanks for men like DeGroot, whose remembrance of time served in World War II should be required listening for anyone whose heart beats a patriotic rhythm.

At some point over the next several days, he will drop a ceremonial puck before a game of the annual Armed Forces hockey tournament at the Fiesta Rancho Ice Arena, an event that has grown to 24 teams from American and Canadian military bases.

Games will run 24 hours a day from Thursday through Sunday and be competed at an A, B and C level of skill. It is the brainchild of Fiesta ice director Rob Pallin, who played 10 years professionally in Europe and whose deep love of history and profound respect for our military led him to creating this tournament.

"My grandfather served in World War I and received two Purple Hearts, my father in the Korean War and my oldest brother eight years in the military," Pallin said. "This tournament is very dear to me. Some of the guys competing will have just come back from serving within the last month. Hopefully, this gives all of them time to relax and have some fun.

"When I first ran into (DeGroot) and was told he was a World War II veteran, we became quite close. He has taught me a lot about life and fate. I'm a huge history buff and have learned more from him than in 20, 30 books I have read. He is a heck of a gentleman."

His has been a heck of a life.

A primary duty for an Army combat engineer was to keep troops moving on attack while impeding the enemy, to line the front with thousands of mines and booby traps and other firing devices so that when those pesky German tanks rolled over them at night, well, boom goes the dynamite.

It was a task that took courage and caution, setting and then removing mines while mapping out a safe route of passage with white tape.

DeGroot might set a minefield one day, move to the back and then watch as other engineers were killed trying to clear the next. That kind of danger. Those kind of odds.

His infantry landed near Normandy shortly after the beaches were stormed and eventually moved through France, into Southern Germany and to the Austrian border before the Germans surrendered. He is 89 today, sharper than most half his age and having just celebrated a wedding anniversary with wife Ellen.

He met her through a fellow soldier during the war, who was writing three women back home at once. The soldier handed DeGroot a letter from one and said, "Here, you write this one."

DeGroot corresponded with Ellen for three years before returning home and meeting her. They have been married 67 years.

How has he made it work for so long?

"You shut up and raise your hands in surrender, and I'm not kidding about that," he said.

He is someone I want my children to hear, his memories ones we all should respect. Life passes too quickly, but once in a while, the telephone rings and Rob Pallin says he again is putting on a hockey tournament for those who serve our country and that there is a man I should meet.

And then John DeGroot walks into an ice arena, and I soon realize how incredible were those who once defended our nation.

And how incredible they remain today.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on "Gridlock," ESPN 1100 and 98.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.