WHO WE ARE: Combat Veteran Not Jaded By War

Post 56 member Chad Isabelle in Afghanistan 2004

By JOE VACCARO
American Legion Post 56

October 9, 2013

During this Year of the Veteran at the American Legion Post 56, we’re reminded that the persons we call friends and the organizations we belong to are usually a good indicator of who we are or what we aspire to be.

Some people might call these relationships character building. Character building usually begins at home and becomes a finely honed skill in places like church, school and military service. General Dwight D. Eisenhower once stated that character was “everything in leadership” but real character was basically “integrity”.

Throughout the years, military service has become a gristmill for “character building” where men and women are placed in difficult to almost impossible circumstances yet triumph over their circumstances.

The concepts of character and integrity are interwoven throughout a service member’s career whether they serve three years or 33 years. The idea of sacrificing one’s personal needs for the greater good for all isn’t a new concept. If you don’t believe that, ask former combat veteran and American Legion Post 56 member Chad Isabelle.

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Immediately after being graduated in 2002 from Phoebus High School in Hampton, Isabelle enlisted in the Army infantry, later serving in both Iraq and Afghanistan during some of the heaviest years of fighting. During his eight years of service he attained the rank of Specialist and Team Leader and earned the prestigious Combat Infantry Badge. The CIB is awarded for performing duties while personally present under enemy fire, and the individual receiving this distinction had to be engaged in active ground combat and exposed to direct fires by the enemy. This is an impressive achievement for a young man whose goal was to complete his Army career and enter the field of health sciences to help people in need.

However, Isabelle’s accomplishments did not end there. He was also the recipient of two Army Commendation Medals for his decisive actions in combat. His first one was for protecting and saving dozens of fellow Soldiers lives after he discovered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attached to multiple IEDs forming what is called a “daisy chain.” He received his second medal for heroic actions during a firefight that caused him to expose himself to enemy fire while he led his unit out of an ambush.

Talking to Isabelle, one might expect a “salty” or opinionated person jaded by the horrors of war. But instead, you find a young man filled with hope, hard work, and optimism. Much of this outlook can be attributed to that fact that Isabelle was born into a military family in Pensacola, FL, and grew up on bases along with his two older sisters. Not one to sit around and feel sorry for himself, he took several college courses during his combat deployments in order to obtain his BS in Health Services Administration from James Madison University. He jokes that his degree took seven years to complete due to his military service. Isabelle plans on starting work on an advanced degree — and this time with no worries about “incoming fires.”

Isabelle is currently the Administrator at Heritage Hall in Nassawadox and the care and concern he has shown his clients and staff demonstrates the leadership qualities born of harder times in faraway places. During the course of this interview he spoke about the integrity of being responsible for your own actions through self-discipline and accountability. He said that real character is doing the right thing when no one is watching you, and he tries to instill that same concept in his staff at Heritage Hall.

What we expect out of life and what we get are sometimes two very different outcomes, yet through the grace of God, family, and friends, we continue to move along. During this Year of the Veteran at the American Legion Post 56, Isabelle’s military record and service to the community stand as a shining example of what America’s current veterans look like today.

As WW II General Lucian K. Truscott said, ”Reputation is what you think you are and character is who you are.