Wayne Teegardin spends his days at St. Lucie County’s veterans services office filing claims and appeals for the county’s about 32,000 veterans.
That has made him the public face of St. Lucie County’s veterans.
He’s an Army veteran whose service spanned from Vietnam to Iraq, and yet Teegardin still found time to be involved with the Lions Club International and other community organizations.
But the man of service was quite startled to learn that he’d recently been commissioned as a Kentucky colonel.
“No, I’m not from Kentucky,” he told St. Lucie Voice.
OK, more about how Teegardin got his commission as an honorary Kentucky colonel in a bit.
Probably Teegardin’s most recognized local accomplishment is leading efforts in 2014 to get the state’s seventh veterans nursing home built in Port St. Lucie. Construction is start on the Ardie R. Copas State Veterans’ Nursing Home on Tradition Parkway this Monday, June 18. (See story, Page 8.) The competition for the home among contending counties was fierce. Teegardin and others crafted a convincing 600-page bid in days to present to the home’s site-selection committee.
But, Teegardin is pretty accustomed to working under pressure.
In 2004 he was serving in the Army’s Special Operations Command’s civil affairs in Sadr City and other dangerous places in Iraq. His job was to help bring stability, infrastructure and democracy to the Iraqi people. Insurgents wanted Americans to fail. Teegardin and others on his team had to get to know the locals to work with them, which meant daily going outside bases through neighborhoods knowing they had figurative bulls-eyes painted on their backs.
Then on April 4 that year, the worst happened. Sadr City exploded on what’s been dubbed by many in the Army as “Black Sunday.” By the time the Siege of Sadr City was over, eight American soldiers were dead. Another 57 were wounded.
Teegardin and others in his civil affairs team volunteered to go into the thick of the shooting to guide the 1st Cavalry to a patrol pinned down by the Mahdi Army. Small arms fire disabled his vehicle early in the battle and Teegardin had to retreat to the Army’s nearby forward operating base.
But that’s only a portion of Teegardin’s longstanding record of service that’s earned him a place alongside the about 85,000 people who’ve been commissioned as honorary Kentucky Colonels over the last 200 years. Teegardin is shy about discussing it.
“I was nominated by a direct decedent of Harland Sanders,” Teegardin said. “They know what I do.”
Yes, that Harland Sanders, of fried chicken fame. Teegardin declined to identify the person who’d nominated him out of respect for the individual’s privacy.
Kentucky governors have been giving notable individuals the honorary title of “colonel” since 1813. Gov. Isaac Shelby started the tradition by naming his son-in-law to be the “colonel” of his staff. That started a practice that became a tradition.
Gov. William O’Connell Bradley started giving the honorary commission to recognize citizens for notable achievements in 1885.
The book “A Kentucky Colonel” published in 1890 let the country in on the state tradition. Recipients started using their honorary commissions to promote charitable works. Gov. Ruby Laffoon – who’d commissioned Sanders – created the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels in the early 1930s to encourage more of that charity work.
Teegardin has never lived in Kentucky, but did visit the Bluegrass State to see his son who was stationed at Fort Campbell. It’s doubtful some of the most well-known Kentucky colonels were ever in the commonwealth at all. Winston Churchill was one.
So was the first American to orbit Earth – John Glenn. He was given his commission while in space.
The thing Teegardin hopes to use the honorary commission for is to let more veterans know that the county offers help with filing claims and appeals to the Department of Veteran Affairs. Well, that and maybe to get a free drink.
“I’m expecting a case of bourbon to come in,” he quipped.
St. Lucie County Veteran Services is at 1664 SE Walton Road, suite 205, in Port St. Lucie. The phone number is 772-337-5670.