“Where’s Joey?”: A sister’s promise echoes through a Wyoming military tribute 

Wyoming Veterans Commission 

By Joseph Coslett Jr. 

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – It was May 1968. The air was warm, and the laughter of children echoed through an alley in a quiet Wyoming neighborhood. That’s when two men in uniform appeared, walking toward a family’s future, carrying with them the unbearable weight of final news. 
 
“We got excited to see them,” the sister said, her voice trembling but sure, as she stood before the crowd gathered for the Gold Star Tribute Ceremony. “We just knew Joey would be right behind them.” 
 
But Pfc. Joseph Padilla would not come home from Vietnam. 
 
The sister, only nine years old at the time, shared her story as if it happened yesterday. Her voice, filled with childlike innocence and lifelong grief, painted a portrait of the moment her world changed. 
 
“We thought maybe Joey was hiding—playing hide-and-seek like he always did,” she said. 

But that game would end in a silence no child should endure. 

As the ceremony unfolded, her words reached the hearts of every listener. “I remember him saying, ‘You found me,’ and I began to cry.” That memory became a promise: To never forget Joey or anyone like him. 
 
That promise bloomed into the Joseph A. Padilla Military Tribute Project. A banner initiative honoring the fallen, created not for attention, but for remembrance. Each banner carries a name, a face, a life given in service. 
 
With support from First Lady Jennie Gordon, Gold Star Families, and Blue Federal Credit Union, the banners now hang with solemn pride. “They welcomed us with open arms,” she said. “This is our third year. I will forever be grateful.” 
 
Maj. Gen. Greg Porter, Wyoming’s Adjutant General, followed her. “Memories, unless they’re shared, can’t be passed on,” he said. “Ceremonies like this matter because they keep the stories alive.” 
 
He reminded the audience of the quiet strength behind every Gold Star Family: the parents, siblings, children and spouses who bear the burden of remembrance. Quoting President Reagan, Porter asked the question that begins our national anthem: “Does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave? 
 
“It’s not a certainty,” he said. “It’s a commitment. One we must all renew.” 

That theme—commitment—ran through every speaker’s message. Retired Master Sgt. Russell Telander, with over five decades in the American Legion, read a poem written with the whispered memories of a veteran. Its lines carried both sorrow and hope:  
What force inside me made me choose 
to fight a war I knew I’d lose, 
to seek the truth I feared to see? 
What sort of demon was in me? 

What force inside made me think, 
in terms of hell, I would not sink? 
And then, once engulfed by its ways, 
who would count my remaining days? 

Who picked me up when I fell flat 
and said I was better than that? 
And as I chose to end the fight, 
who thanked me and said I was right? 

Who chose the path that I would draw on, 
who left when I said—when I said “gone”? 
And when I knew the time was near, 
who held my hand and calmed my fear? 

What force inside me made me trust 
that what I did was good and just, 
and for the rest of life I’d see, 
there was no demon inside of me. 

Telander invited the public to help place over 5,000 flags across five Cheyenne cemeteries to honor the silent rows of the departed. 
 
Sheriff Brian Kozak echoed the theme of shared duty. “Nearly half of our deputies are Guard members or veterans,” he said. “When you’re in need—call us. We ride for the brand too.” 
 
Then Nick Warren, survivor outreach service coordinator and the final speaker, came the charge to live worthy lives in the wake of sacrifice. “They gave every day,” he said. “Let us dare to be great.” 
 
Near the ceremony’s end, silence settled as names were read. Each followed by the quiet nod of those who remembered.  The Gold Star isn’t a title anyone wants. It is a mark of tragedy transformed into honor. A blue star in a window becomes gold when a life is lost. But in that gold, there is something sacred—something eternal.