Saturday, March 11, 2006
Bracelet's unlikely journey brings two military families together
By Todd Krysiak, Watertown Public
Opinion Staff Writer
HOT SPRINGS - They represent the soldier's motto to Ôleave no man behind' and for more than 30 years friends, relatives and many Americans have worn the names of missing and captured soldiers on bracelets worn around their wrists.
The bracelets are an important way to remember comrades whose fate remains unknown, and for two South Dakota military families, one POW/MIA bracelet was the cause of an unlikely connection.
In 2002, 101st Army Airborne Division helicopter pilot Scott Saboe traveled to meet his sister, Army nurse Ann Remington, who was stationed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C.
During Saboe's stay, the siblings from Willow Lake chose to visit the Vietnam Memorial, where Saboe decided to purchase a POW/MIA bracelet from one of the vendors near the wall.
"When you're in the military, you tend to not want to forget fallen soldiers," Ann said about her brother's purchase. ÔYou don't want to forget your comrades. Scott really believed in that."
Saboe chose the bracelet of missing in action 101st Army Airborne Division pilot David Soyland, also a South Dakota native, whose helicopter was shot down over Vietnam in 1971.
"He bought it because of the fact that Soyland was a South Dakota pilot serving with the 101st, much like himself," Ann said. "We have Memorial Day and Veterans Day to remember the soldiers, but the bracelet is a daily reminder of the sacrifices people have made. It was very important to Scott."
Saboe wore the bracelet every day for almost a year, until he was called to serve in Iraq. He left the bracelet at his home in Ft. Campbell, Ky., but never returned to carry on its tradition. Saboe was killed in action when his helicopter was downed near Mosul, Iraq in November of 2003.
The duty of gathering Saboe's personal belongings from his Kentucky home fell to Ann.
"I saw the bracelet just sitting there," she said. "I didn't want it to get lost in the shuffle. Knowing what it meant to Scott, I couldn't just leave it in the house."
Remington became the keeper of the memory of two lost soldiers. She chose not to wear it each day because it could interfere with her duties as a nurse, but she kept it in a jewelry box at her home.
"I looked at it every day when I was getting my watch," she said."And I now have a similar bracelet for Scott."
Two years later, Ann was out of the Army and moved back to the South Dakota of her youth. She began working as a registered nurse at the Michael J. Fitzmaurice State Veterans Home in Hot Springs.
A few months after beginning her position as a unit supervisor at the home, Ann interviewed and admitted an elderly World War II veteran from Faulkton named Ted to her unit.
"I went through the interview process with him, so I knew his son was missing in action," she said. "But at the time, that was that."
Two months later, while doing some paperwork for the WWII veteran living under her care, she felt her heart jump.
"I saw the last names,"she said.
Ann was at her home at the time, and she raced to the jewelry box to double check the last names.
"I just got that feeling, I don't know how to explain it, it just had to be," she said. "I knew deep down in my heart it had to be Ted's son's name on that bracelet."
The name of her patient was Ted Soyland.
Ann said she considered jumping straight into her car and driving to work, pajamas and all, but chose to wait until the next day.
When she first talked to Ted about the bracelet, he didn't understand what she was talking about.
"I tried explaining about the bracelet to him and he just looked at me kind of funny," she said. "When I showed him the bracelet, he knew right away what it was."
And he was thankful Ann made the connection.
"It means a great deal to me," Ted said. "It was just an accident, really, us running into each other like this, but I'm glad it happened."
Ted said he was aware the bracelets existed, but had never seen one and didn't know one had been made for his son.
"It was a good shock," he said.
Ted asked Ann if he could have the bracelet that bore his son's name, and she faced an emotional decision.
"It was a part of my brother, so it was difficult," she said. ÔBut he would have been very, very happy to give it to him. How could I say no'"
Ted now keeps the bracelet with him at all times, never shying away from talking about his son and the bracelet's journey.
"The people around here are veterans, they understand," he said. "They're all shocked too when they hear the story."
Ann enjoys watching Ted tell his stories and knows the bracelet's tale keeps her brother's story alive as well.
"It was a unique moment for me to be able to return it to a family member," she said. "He is so proud. He had tears in his eyes the first few weeks every time he shared it with anyone. He carries it wherever he goes."
Hot Springs, South Dakota