The man is down on one knee next to a girl who proudly holds a medal stamped with a red one-star flag. Retired Brig. Gen. Roy Webb, former Iowa Army National Guard deputy commanding general, sent me the photo of himself and the girl right after he’d awarded her a challenge coin in recognition of her excellence as a second grader, her courage, and her loyalty to her father who is battling serious cancer. I was honored with the chance to talk to Webb as he nears retirement after 33 years in education, the last seven of those as superintendent of Quincy Public Schools in western Illinois.

During his 36 years in the military as an enlisted combat engineer and then as an officer, Webb has commanded awesome power in weapons and explosives and in thousands of soldiers. He deployed for operations Desert Storm and Enduring Freedom. He’s proud of his service. There was a kind of reverence in his voice for his soldiers who worked filling and placing sandbags all day on flood duty or for the brave Afghans with whom he worked.