Photo By Maj. Alun Thomas | Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers discusses his career assisting local military, in his...... read more read more
GLENDALE, Ariz. – As mayor of the 86th largest city in the United States, Jerry Weiers has his hands full.
With an ever growing infrastructure and population, Weiers oversees a city which has held the Super Bowl twice, and seems primed to grow further over the following decade.
But for Weiers, an avid pilot, hunter and motorcycle enthusiast, nothing is more important to him than the military.
A tireless advocate for veterans and those still serving, Weiers has made it a priority to immerse himself in assisting those wearing the uniform, something he revels in.
Weiers said he never served, something he regrets, but feels in his career he has more than made up for it.
“For not serving in the military, I’ve probably done more things than most of the people who’re in it,” Weiers said. “I know that sounds crazy, but I’ve got to jump with the Golden Knights twice, I’ve driven Stryker’s, Bradley’s, shot mortars, and a 50-cal. But I wasn’t allowed to throw any grenades.”
Weiers, who ardently supports the Phoenix Recruiting Battalion, said he sees these activities as a reward for simply being himself.
“I don’t look at it as motivation – I see it as a reward for being me. I know that sounds stupid, but if nobody offered it to me, it wouldn’t matter. I love my job and trying to help people that are serving,” Weiers explained.
Weiers said his efforts to support the military go back decades. When the War on Terror kicked into full gear in 2003, he found himself obliged to help any way he could.
“During my first year in the House of Representatives, they were mobilizing everyone in the National Guard and Army Reserve to Iraq,” he said. “I was hearing these horror stories about families having problems without their spouses.”
“I got hold of all the cell phone numbers and email addresses of all the people that were deployed. I started sending emails to the spouses of those deployed, saying if there’s an issue – I don’t care what it is – let my office know,” Weiers continued.
“Nothing was too small. If they were struggling, I told them to give my office a call and give me a chance to help,” Weiers said. “I had a vast amount of people who wanted to make a difference, they just didn’t know how. They were blessing me by giving me the chance to make a difference.”
“Then the floodgates opened … it was crazy. Lots of calls were from families without paychecks, when the spouse had to quit their job and deploy,” he said.
Weiers told the stories of two spouses who went through trying incidents while their husbands were deployed, moments where he was more than happy to make a difference.
“I had a call from one lady whose husband was about to redeploy. She told me she wrecked his truck the day earlier. She joked to me that he probably loved the truck more than her. She told me she didn’t have the money to cover the truck’s insurance and get it fixed. It wasn’t a bad wreck, just a minor one.”
“She was in Tucson, so I called Jim Click, who owns a Ford dealership there, and told him it was Representative Weiers. I knew he did a lot for veterans and those serving, so I told him I needed a favor.”
“As soon as I told him what it was he said ‘we can take care of that.’ So I called her up, got her to go in and see him, and got the truck fixed before her husband came home.”
“I didn’t need her to thank me for it. I just wanted to know it got taken care of. One thing I didn’t want was for those deployed to know what I was trying to do for them.”
“If they were out there on the frontlines, I needed them to have all their thoughts on the mission. I didn’t want them worried about what’s going on back home.”
But on occasion this tactic didn’t work, Weiers said, especially in the case of one spouse, who also had car issues, only much worse in this situation.
“I’ve been around long enough to know if your mind’s not focused on what you’re doing, in any job, it’s not good. So I said, please do not share this with your spouses,” he said. “Then I got an email from a guy who was in Afghanistan. He said please don’t tell my wife about this. He told me he wasn’t on the frontlines, but to me just being there meant he was.”
“He said his wife’s mother lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, while they lived here in Phoenix. He said his wife had a 1968 Chevy Camaro which was rotting from the inside out, no floorboards, no heater, nothing. He said she was trying to drive it to Santa Fe to see her mother.”
“Now I know Santa Fe in December is very cold and more than likely the car wouldn’t make it. So I called another car dealer I know and told him I needed a brand new or newly used car for free. His initial reaction was to say no. Once I told him the story though, he simply said ‘done.’”
“He told me to give him a couple of days and call back. When I did he told me had a car with 30,000 miles on it, a really nice car. They went ahead and filled the tank full of gas, and also donated about $500 worth of groceries and packed the car with them.”
“Meanwhile her car had broken down on the way to New Mexico and had to be towed. I called and told her I had a bus ticket for her back to Phoenix, to pick up a new car waiting here for her. She went silent. I kept saying ‘hello … hello?’ Then I heard her crying.”
“But she came down, I met her at the bus station and took her to the dealership. I guess I watch too much TV, because I was expecting her to jump around and hug everyone. But she just sat there and bawled. Then she had me bawling. I was like ‘come on, don’t do that.’”
“It wasn’t what I expected, but after she left I felt really good we had made a difference in someone’s life.”
A few years later Weiers decided to help veterans in other ways, this time finding gainful employment in a depressed economy.
“Around eight years ago when the economy was horrible, I held a job fair which I called a hiring opportunity for veterans,” Weiers said. “Back then nobody was hiring anyone, let alone vets. I worked really hard to get employers to show up. We had probably 1000 people show up looking for a job.”
Weiers said he placed a large bell in the auditorium, with a single goal in mind.
“Before we let the veterans in, I told the employers ‘if you find someone you believe can do the job, then offer them the job and ring the bell as loudly as you can,’” he said.
“It was contagious. It sent chills down your back hearing the bell ring. Everyone would cheer,” Weiers recalls. “It was so successful that we started holding it yearly. We call it Stand Up for Veterans.”
“Every time I go down there I feel like crying … we’re giving them bars of soap, socks, shoes, used clothes … they just want to feel good about themselves,” he explained. “My question is, why would you ever let them get into that position?”
This is something Weiers is eager to solve, to help veterans get back on their feet.
“We should be identifying the problems early on, before they become major ones. Then they can keep their dignity, continue working and keep their families together,” he said. “Over the last year we had 39 veterans who were made job offers. We had 25 different court systems show up to offer community service, so veterans could get out of things like a speeding ticket.”
For Weiers there are still things he wants to accomplish, such as going to visit Soldiers who are deployed, which he hopes will happen one day.
“I don’t have a death wish … yes I’m a pilot, ride a Harley Davidson, jump out of airplanes and like to hunt, but I really feel compelled to let our Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, and Marines know we haven’t forgotten them … and I hope one day I get a chance to go over there and tell them that.”
“It would drive my wife nuts, but after 35 years she’s figured out that’s who I am,” he said smiling.
Weiers said he just wants to be known as someone who tried to make a difference.
“You can talk all day long about whether you want to make a difference, or if you actually care, but your actions speak louder than words,” Weiers said. “I really, truly appreciate everything our military does for us … that’s why I do this.”
| Date Taken: | 01.17.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 01.17.2018 14:34 |
| Story ID: | 262333 |
| Location: | GLENDALE, AZ, US |
| Web Views: | 118 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Glendale mayor a tireless advocate for Arizona military, by MAJ Alun Thomas, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT