Salute: Military service is all in the family for Padial
Ivan Padial of Lexington, retired lieutenant colonel of the U.S. Army, served for 28 years of active duty and taught Junior ROTC at Lexington Senior High School for 19 years. {Contributed photo}
While Ivan L. Padial, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, used to participate in the annual Veterans Day parade as the Junior ROTC instructor at Lexington Senior High School (LSHS), he will be on the sidelines this year with his wife, Alba, and their grandchildren.
“Veterans Day is an opportunity for our great nation to honor all those who have served,” he said.
The parade begins at 4 p.m. Thursday in uptown Lexington.
A self-described “Army brat,” Padial joined the military like his father, grandfather and great-grandfather before him. “Ever since I was very young, I dreamt of going into the military. At one time I thought I’d like to be a doctor but decided I wanted to be an Army officer like my father.”
A native of Puerto Rico, Padial joined the National Guard when he was a sophomore at the University of Puerto Rico and was later selected to attend the National Guard Officer Candidate School, an intense leadership training program. Once he completed that training, he came to the United States for further officer training and applied to become an active duty officer in 1968.
“This was during the Vietnam War so it was easy to get active duty.” Padial served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969.
“There was a war as I started my career and another war when I retired in 1995.” Padial added he served in Iraq during “Operation Desert Storm” and retired when stationed at Ft. Bragg in Fayetteville.
“Of the 28 years I served active duty, 21 years were overseas,” he noted.
Being bilingual, Padial was stationed in several Central American countries, including Panama, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. He was also stationed at bases in Kansas, Maryland and Virginia as well as Germany. His family moved with him with the exception of his tours of duty in Vietnam and Iraq.
“I enjoyed learning about other cultures and picking out the best of them. I’ve been all around the world and I’ve seen how other countries work and I can tell you there’s nowhere like the U.S. If you try hard enough, you can succeed.”
Padial said he and his family were able to take advantage of free Army travel all over Europe when they were stationed in Germany. “I think it helped them to see other cultures and how they live. It gave them an opportunity to meet a lot of people. And they’re still in contact with some of them on social media.”
Of his four children, the three boys all came up through Junior ROTC in high school and served for several years in the Army to earn money for college. Some of the grandchildren will likely do the same, with one grandson already in the National Guard.
“I think it’s important to give back to the country that gave them opportunities to be successful in life. I think all U.S. citizens should serve in some way for the opportunities we have received, whether it’s the military or the Peace Corps.”
Just before he retired, Padial got qualified to become an ROTC instructor. He didn’t know much about Lexington except it was close to High Point, where he and his wife had shopped for furniture and knew that Lexington and Thomasville were centers of that manufacturing at the time. He first interviewed for the ROTC job in Lexington but also in West Palm Beach and Miami in Florida. “I just told the Lord I’m going through the first door that opens for me. It’s been a beautiful experience.”
Padial taught the ROTC program at LSHS for 19 years before retiring in June 2014. He said he didn’t know he would enjoy teaching but noted that most military service members are between the ages of 18 and 25.
“I enjoy working with young people. It gives me an opportunity to give back and help them form values and character. It got to be my passion.”
Though he retired in 2014 from his second career, Padial continues to substitute teach at the high school, from ROTC to math to choir, two to three days a week. “I go wherever they need me — as long as they leave me a lesson plan. Once you retire, if you don’t have a passion, I think you start to go downhill.”
