Hall: The night a whistle stopped a riot

For men and women who served in the military, Veterans Day can stir memories and emotions that can be difficult to process, much less express. But as I look around today’s politics – chaotic and, on some days, seemingly hopeless, it strikes me that there are lessons to be learned from a time in my twenties when a whistle stopped a riot.

Let me back up a bit.

It’s important for you to know that I didn’t plan to join the military, I had a low draft number. I lived with my parents and twin sister on the north side of Kansas City in a middle class Italian neighborhood, where fighting wasn’t necessary for survival, but it was certainly part of everyday life. My dad once had to take me to the hospital because a much bigger kid in our neighborhood came at me because a friend tried to steal