Shaking the hand of professional WWE wrestler Xavier Woods, rock group Motley Crue or actor/musician Gary Sinise might be a once-in-a-lifetime moment for some people.
For Jeremy Ämick, volunteer public affairs officer for the Silver Star Families of America, meeting celebrities has become a yearly event, recognizing individuals or organizations who have helped wounded veterans with a commendation award.
"It's fun to meet them, to recognize their work and to share their story," Ämick said. "Many people don't know what they have done for veterans."
Ämick researches potential recipients, looking for those who have supported veterans - for example, by volunteering with the USO, donating concert proceeds or visiting a VA Hospital.
Ämick enlisted in the Missouri National Guard in 1993, during his senior year at Russellville High School. He served two years in the reserve and nine on active duty with the Guard at Jefferson Barracks and the Jefferson City aviation unit.
He was medically discharged in 2004, after which he served as a civilian as the Guard's transition assistance advisor.
Since 2008, he has worked in the U.S. Department of Labor's veterans employee and training office, currently as the assistant director for Missouri.
"I enjoy working with veterans," Ämick said. But the day job, most importantly, pays the bills so he can continue helping veterans through his voluntary capacities.
Most of his volunteer work is through the Silver Star Families of America, a national organization formed in 2004 in Clever, Missouri. Ämick said the genuine nature of the organizers and the desire to directly benefit veterans drew him to the organization.
The Silver Star Families presents banners to veterans wounded in combat, offers HAM radio or conceal-and-carry classes to veterans, and helps link wounded veterans with services.
What Ämick may be best known for locally is his weekly column in the Monday News Tribune, highlighting local veterans. These stories, which he has contributed since 2010, he also gathers on behalf of the Silver Star Families.
He also has become a local speaker, presenting four two-hour sessions at Learning In Retirement and speaking at civic clubs. This Veterans Day, he will speak at the Russellville High School assembly.
In recent years, Ämick also has expanded his published works beyond a couple of poetry books.
His most recent book, "Cole County at War," was a sequel to "Jefferson City at War," an outgrowth of the newspaper articles.
"You can only go so in-depth in an article," he said. "With a book, you can stretch your legs a little bit more, but it requires more research, too."
"Soldierly Devotion" was a "phenomenal" book, Ämick said, telling the story of a rural couple's young love through their letters back and forth during World War I.
His next work, which should be available in spring 2016, will highlight the World War II experiences of Henley resident Norbert Gerling, who was a gunner in a Hellcat tank destroyer involved in Utah Beach and the Battle of the Bulge.
After that, Ämick said he has more local veterans' stories to be told in a third installment as "Mid-Missouri at War, then perhaps a book about the Vietnam era specifically.
"I grew up with a fondness for the Vietnam era," Ämick said, referring to the stories his father and uncle, both U.S. Marines, would tell.
But he said after he had researched it, "I fell in love with World War I. It was a transformative time in world history and warfare. What we were taught in school was so sanitized."
The longer he writes about local veterans, the more people contact him with more stories.
"It's a fun thing, people sending photos and limited information about World War I veterans," Ämick said. "It's fun to uncover the history of our deceased veterans. We can learn about our local history that way, too."
More than his own curiosity in these individuals who have served and their eras of history, preservation is a high motivator for Ämick.
"One thing any veteran wants to know is that he will not be forgotten," he said. "Families appreciate when we do these stories; it preserves that memory."
Often remembrance becomes sifted down to statistics and dates.
"To me, that doesn't tell the story of the sacrifice that occurs," Ämick said. "When you tell an individual's story, it helps the reader understand the context, what the veterans endured."