Meredith Eberhart descends from a proud lineage of those who pursued careers in the medical field.
His grandfather was a longtime doctor in the Russellville area and his father worked as an optometrist. Yet while coming of age in Florida, the younger Eberhart embraced the dream of becoming a soldier in the U.S. Army and later a deputy sheriff, eventually achieving both.
Born in 1965 in Memphis, Arkansas, his father was at the time completing his medical schooling. He later moved his family to the Cocoa Beach area of Florida, where he established his optometry practice.
"I graduated from Astronaut High School in 1983 (so named because of its proximity to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center)," Eberhart said. "I then attended one year of military college at the University of North Georgia, but decided that I didn't want to be an officer and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army."
Inducted into the service in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1984, Eberhart was advised the Army was at the time offering bonuses for two military occupational specialties -- infantry soldiers and stevedores. Choosing the latter, he was sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, for his basic training and then transferred to Fort Eustis, Virginia, for advanced instruction.
He explained, "While in Virginia, they sent us down to the James River, where the Navy's dead fleet is located. One of the things that they had us doing was scraping and painting some of the Army's transport ships. They also taught us to properly load and unload cargo ships and, once everything was on shore, loading it on trucks or trains with forklifts."
During this timeframe, the stevedores in training were temporarily dispatched to Fort Story, Virginia, learning to work with U.S. Army hovercrafts that were used in loading howitzers, Jeeps and other associated equipment on transport vessels.
"What we were doing at that time has really become a naval military occupational specialty," he said.
Eberhart was assigned to the 119th Transport Company at Fort Eustis, Virginia. In the early weeks of 1985, the company deployed to Bremerhaven, Germany, in support of a major training exercise known as REFORGER. An acronym for "return of forces to Germany," REFORGER was a NATO-sponsored training event involving military forces from several countries.
According to a brief article printed in the Tyler (Texas) Courier-Times on Feb. 10, 1985, "The exercise was designed to develop uniformity of doctrine, standardize procedures for rapid response to a crisis and demonstrate solidarity in commitment to NATO goals and objectives."
"As a stevedore, our company was in Bremerhaven to help unload all of the equipment that was being used in REFORGER like 21/2-ton trucks, tanks and howitzers," Eberhart said. "It was still divided into East and West Germany and Berlin was separated into four sectors, just as it had been following the end of World War II," he added.
Eberhart continued, "When he first arrived, the military provided briefings in Frankfurt and cautioned us that it was suspected that East German Stasi or Soviet operatives were killing American troops so that they could acquire their credentials and access our military bases."
Despite the Cold War dangers present during his overseas service, the months he spent in Germany passed without incident. Fortunately, Eberhart even found opportunities to visit historic sites such as the original Hofbräuhaus in Munich and the BMW factory in the same city.
Returning stateside in the summer of 1985, Eberhart finished out the remainder of his two-year enlistment at Fort Eustis. When leaving the Army, he chose to use his military bonus and earned college benefits to enroll at Florida State University, beginning the process of becoming a deputy sheriff.
"After graduating with a bachelor's degree in criminology in 1990, I attended the J.C. Stone Memorial Police Academy in Orlando and was hired as a reserve deputy in Orange County, Florida," Eberhart said. "Then, I became a deputy sheriff with the Brevard County Sheriff Department."
He soon met his wife, Theresa, in 1991, and the couple married three years later. They have since raised one daughter, Jillian.
"While I was working at Brevard County, I thought I might want to move to Jefferson City since many from my family lived in the area," he said. "I passed the tests for the Jefferson City Police Department, but decided to remain with Brevard County and retired from there in 2012."
The next few years included interesting positions such as working as contracted security at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. He then moved to Missouri, where he spent three years as a deputy for Callaway County and one year with the Vandalia Police Department.
"My mother fell ill, and I moved back to Florida in 2017 and, after she passed, I moved back to Missouri," he said. "In 2020, I was hired as a reserve deputy for Osage County and in the fall of last year, went to work for the Capitol Police in Jefferson City."
When contemplating a career that has spanned not only the U.S. Army but several law enforcement agencies as well, Eberhart remarked, "Two things that I always wanted to do in life was be a soldier and a deputy sheriff, and I achieved both."
In conclusion, he added, "But it all began in basic training because you become a blank piece of paper -- it doesn't matter your history since you are redefined as a person and are forged into a soldier. That is our nation's legacy and being part of the U.S. Army was being a member of something much bigger than me."
Jeremy P. Ämick writes on behalf of the Silver Star Families of America.
Meredit Eberhart enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1984 and trained as a stevedore. It was this specialty that educated him to properly load Army transport vessels. (Courtesy/Meredith Eberhart)