Manti American Legion commander reflects on faith, freedom and duty

MANTI—Before becoming commander of American Legion Post 31 in Manti, before he became a bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and before he spent years encouraging local students to appreciate their freedoms, Bruce Ericksen made a decision that shaped the course of his life.

“I had no qualms about serving my country,” Ericksen said.

That decision led him from Brigham Young University to the U.S. Air Force in 1972, where he eventually served as a command pilot, flight instructor and B-52 pilot before retiring as a major in 1992.

Today, as commander of Post 31, Ericksen continues serving veterans and his community while helping prepare the next generation to understand what he believes citizenship truly means.

For Ericksen, patriotism is not about slogans or ceremonies alone. It is rooted in responsibility.

As the nation marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, Ericksen said America’s strength depends on the willingness of its citizens to preserve the freedoms previous generations sacrificed to protect.

“It’s what I taught my kids all my life, that the country that we’re born in, we owe our freedom to,” he said. “We owe who we are to our government, and we need to sustain them, to do whatever we can to uplift and uphold the Constitution of the United States.”

Military service was a natural extension of that belief.

His father served in the military. So did his brother. Ericksen entered BYU in 1966, studying design engineering while participating in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. He earned his private pilot’s license before graduating and receiving his commission as a second lieutenant.

His first assignment took him to Craig Air Force Base in Alabama, a pilot training installation that operated from World War II until its closure in 1977.

“When they said, ‘Do you want to fly?’ I said, ‘Sure, I’ll fly,'” he said.

The timing of his career placed him in an unusual position during the Vietnam War. Rather than deploying overseas, Ericksen became a flight instructor, training pilots who would go on to serve in Vietnam.

“I spent the next four years teaching flying and sending people to Vietnam,” he said.

When the war ended, available pilot assignments became scarce as returning combat aviators filled many operational positions. Ericksen said he was offered a choice between becoming a commissary officer in Thule, Greenland, or a missile launch officer in Minot, North Dakota.

Neither appealed to him.

“They said, ‘If you want to be a B-52 pilot, I guess you can choose a B-52,'” Ericksen said. “So, I said, ‘Send me.’ I’d rather do that than become a commissary officer.”

He spent most of the remainder of his flying career in the B-52 before later moving into targeting operations involving the B-1 bomber. He retired as a major after more than two decades of service.

Though his Air Force career ended, Ericksen’s commitment to service did not.

As commander of Manti American Legion Post 31, he sees the organization’s mission extending well beyond supporting veterans.

“It’s what we do,” he said. “We’re here to sustain what goes on here in our local area.”

Much of that work focuses on young people.

The post sponsors local students to attend American Legion Auxiliary Boys State and Girls State leadership programs and participates in Veterans Day programs at local schools.

“We support the students,” Ericksen said. “We go to our high schools, our elementary schools. We put on programs for them. We let them know how good the country is. How good it should be. And let them know that it isn’t a good country unless they make it that way.”

Ericksen believes education and public service go hand in hand.

When asked whether he would encourage young men and women to join the military, his answer was yes, with one important condition.

“Go to school first and get their education,” he said. “If they really want to serve their country, then get the education before you go in the military.”

He believes education enables service members to contribute in ways that extend beyond military duty.

“You can do more for the people than just serving,” Ericksen said. “You can help the people grow, and the nation grow.”

His sense of patriotism is also closely connected to his faith.

Ericksen served a mission in Central America before serving twice as a bishop, as a branch president and in numerous other leadership positions in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Ericksen believes America’s religious freedom made it possible for the restoration of the gospel, as defined in LDS believes, to occur. And he has long viewed the nation’s constitutional principles as inseparable from his own beliefs.

He also finds inspiration in the Book of Mormon, particularly the example of Captain Moroni, whom he views as a symbol of defending liberty and righteous principles.

“The only way to keep (freedom) is to stand up for what’s right,” Ericksen said. “To defend those things that are important, not just to me and my family, but to the community and to the nation.”

Ericksen and his wife, Beth Ann, have been married 57 years and raised four children. He credits both his family’s military tradition and his father-in-law, one of the early leaders of the American Legion in Manti, with reinforcing his lifelong commitment to service.

Looking ahead, Ericksen hopes Americans, especially younger generations, never lose sight of the freedoms they have inherited.

“It’s worthwhile to defend because of the beliefs we have,” he said. “Because of the freedoms that we enjoy.”

For Ericksen, America’s 250th anniversary is more than a celebration of the nation’s past. It is a reminder that every generation bears responsibility for its future.

“This nation is worth fighting for,” he said. “This nation has the freedom that all can enjoy if we will just maintain it.”