By Mark Walker
Daniel Stalling is no stranger to service. The Olympia resident spent well over a decade in the U.S. Army, rising through the ranks from infantryman to lieutenant colonel and serving a Middle East deployment during the Iraq War.
The veteran hasn’t stopped serving, these days taking on a variety of missions as a volunteer with the American Red Cross Northwest Region’s Services to the Armed Forces.
As he works with veterans and their families at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Stalling will pause along with the Red Cross on this 80th annual Veterans Day to salute those who’ve served in the nation’s armed forces, and the more than two million active duty and reservists serving today.
“Working with soldiers and their families, and having been deployed myself, I know the sacrifices that troops and their families make,” he said. “Veterans Day is a chance to reflect on those who never came back, my own service, and thank all of those serving and who have served.”
The Red Cross, born on the bloody battlefields of World War I, provides constant global emergency communications and support to troops in military facilities throughout the world.
The 63-year-old Stalling has staffed information booths, briefed units at JBLM on the Red Cross and its array of assistance programs, and he has another hands-on skill as a licensed massage therapist. That’s a discipline he mastered after leaving the service – and he’s now taking that skill to Madigan Army Medical Center at JBLM.
“We’re working on expanding healing arts to returning troops and Wounded Warriors to help make the transition when they come home,” said Stalling, who also provides massage therapy in hospice settings.
The Red Cross stands shoulder-to-shoulder with troops, veterans and their families, and offers its own thanks and salute.
We honor and celebrate this Veterans Day with all of you.
American Red Cross NW Region 