What Should We Do to Honor Veterans After Veterans Day Has Passed?

As Veterans Day wound down for another year, I found an interesting article authored by Gillian Richards Augros and Julia Dasaro and published at The Daily Signal. It suggests one way that we can continue honoring “the courage, sacrifice, and enduring legacy” of the veterans who have kept America free. It is by “visiting historic battlefields and military sites where the fight for America’s freedom and prosperity unfolded.” 

The five sites “mark pivotal movements in U.S. history” from the eight years of the Revolutionary War to the four years of the Civil War. The sites “offer a glimpse into the courage and sacrifice that built the nation.” The Heritage Foundation offers the newly released Heritage Guide to Historic Sites to help “Americans to engage more deeply with these sites.”

Yorktown Battlefield (Yorktown, Virginia)

One of the most significant battles of this nation, the Battle of Yorktown was the final major battle of the American Revolution securing American Independence….

Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine (Baltimore, Maryland)

Fort McHenry was the central site of the Battle of Baltimore, a pivotal episode of the War of 1812. Contrary to popular belief, it was this battle – rather than the American Revolution – that inspired our national anthem. During the British bombardment of Fort McHenry, the Maryland lawyer Francis Scott Key watched from a nearby ship…. [His] poem, later set to music, became known as “The Star-Spangled Banner” and was formally declared the U.S. national anthem in 1931.

Fort Sumter (Charleston, South Carolina)

Following Abraham Lincoln’s election as president in November 1860, South Carolina would become the first state to secede from [the] Union. It was at Fort Sumter that the first shots of the Civil War were fired, beginning the deadliest war in our country’s history….

Antietam National Battlefield (Sharpsburg, Maryland)

The Battle of Antietam, one of the most important battles in the Civil War, was also the bloodiest single-day battle in American history. Nearly 23,000 soldiers, both Confederate and Union, were either killed, missing, or wounded. The Union lost more men but won a strategic victory. While General Robert E. Lee’s army was not destroyed, the Confederates were forced to retreat. This gave President Lincoln the assurance to issue the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all slaves in states that had seceded would be freed at the start of 1863 if those states did not return to the Union.

Gettysburg National Military Park (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania)

            The Battle of Gettysburg marked a key turning point in the Civil War. The Confederate Army                 had achieved a series of victories prior to this point, and Lee hoped a second invasion in the                     North would secure an independent confederacy and bring the war to an end. However, the                     battle ended in a Union victory, which changed the course of the war. The three-day battle                     resulted in over 51,000 combined casualties, making it the deadliest battle in American history.              Lincoln later delivered his Gettysburg Address at this site, stating: “The world will little note,                 nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” 

Why Do We Commemorate Veterans Day?

My VIPs for this week are the men and women of the Armed Forces for which we commemorate Veterans Day this Tuesday. Veterans Day has been celebrated “since 1919, when then-President Woodrow Wilson commemorated the first anniversary of the World War I armistice,” according to Rin Velasco, Max Hauptman, and Emily DeLetter at USA Today. 

“To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations,” Wilson said at the time.

We commemorate Veterans Day on November 11 because the armistice was signed on November 11 at the 11^th hour. Its original title was Armistice Day and meant to honor Veterans of World War I. However, American fought World War II and the Korean War, so the name was changed to Veterans Day in in 1954 after Veterans’ service group urged the name change. Veterans Day is a federal holiday to honor all men and women who have served in the armed forces “for their love of the United States, their loyalty to the American people and their willingness to fight and die for the public good.”

Veterans Day is different from Memorial Day for several reasons. First, they come in different months with Memorial Day the last Monday of May each year and Veterans Day on November 11 each year. Memorial Day “is meant to honor all who served and gave their lives for their country.” Veterans Day “honors all veterans, both living and dead, who served in times of war and peace.”

Appreciation and Honor

                Families, communities, and nations are strengthened when we show appreciation and honor to those who so willingly stand between us and the enemy.  They sacrifice so much:  time with their spouses, children, parents and siblings; lives of ease and relaxation; and some – far too many – give their lives.  The least we can do is show appreciation and honor to them for their sacrifices.

I always thank the soldiers, airmen, sailors, and marines when I see them, but I feel so inadequate with my “thank you” when they are giving so much.  The following story – which may be “only a story” – illustrates several ways we can show appreciation to our defenders.  I am sure that many of my readers have better ways to show appreciation than I, but I know that we can never show these brave men and women too much appreciation and honor.  We can strengthen our families, communities, and nations by remembering and honoring the sacrifices made in our behalf.

                I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat.  It was going to be a long flight.  “I’m glad I have a good book to read.  Perhaps I will get a short nap,” I thought.

                Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me.  I decided to start a conversation.  “Where are you headed?” I asked the soldier seated nearest to me.

                “Petawawa.  We’ll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we’re being deployed to Afghanistan.”

                After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars.  It would be several hours before we reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time.

                As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch.  “No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch.  Probably wouldn’t be worth five bucks.  I’ll wait till we get to base.”  His friend agreed.

                I looked around at the other soldiers.  None were buying lunch.  I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill.  “Take a lunch to all those soldiers.” 

                She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly.  Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me.  “My son was a soldier in Iraq; it’s almost like you are doing it for him!”

                Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated.  She stopped at my seat and asked, “Which do you like best – beef or chicken?” 

                “Chicken,” I replied, wondering why she asked. 

She turned and went to the front of the plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class.  “This is your thanks.”

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room.  A man stopped me.  “I saw what you did.  I want to be part of it.  Here, take this.”  He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked.  I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane.  When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, and said, “I want to shake your hand.”  Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain’s hand.  With a booming voice, he said, “I was a soldier, and I was a military pilot.  Once, someone bought me a lunch.  It was an act of kindness I never forgot.” 

I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.  Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs.  A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine.  He left another twenty-five in my palm.

When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to deplane.  Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned and walked away without saying a word.  Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base.  I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars.  “It will take you some time to reach the base.  It will be about time for a sandwich.  God Bless You.”

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers.  As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return.  These soldiers were giving their all for our country.  I could only give them a couple of meals.  It seemed so little.  A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to “The United States of America” for an amount of “up to and including my life.”  That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.”  (Author unknown)

Dakota Meyer

                    Dakota Meyer received the Medal of Honor on September 15, 2011, and became the first living Marine to receive the medal since the Vietnam War.  He claims that he is no hero, but his life says he is.

                    Meyer was a corporal in the United States Marines on September 8, 2009.  Just before dawn that day, a patrol made up of Afghan forces and American trainers were making their way up a narrow valley on foot on their way to meet with some village elders. Suddenly the lights in the village went out and the patrol was pinned down by heavy Taliban fire.  Corporal Meyer and Staff Sergeant Juan Rodriguez-Chavez were about a mile away but could hear the ambush over the radio.  "It was as if the whole valley was exploding.  Taliban fighters were unleashing a firestorm from the hills, from the stone houses, even from the local school."  The patrol was soon pinned down.  Men were being wounded and killed, and four Americans were surrounded.

                    Four times Dakota requested permission to go rescue his friends, and four times he was denied permission because of the danger.  Finally he could stand it no longer and told Juan that he was going in to help.  "Juan jumped into a Humvee and took the wheel; Dakota climbed into the turret and manned the gun.  They were defying orders, but they were doing what they thought was right.  So they drove straight into a killing zone, Dakota's upper body and head exposed to a blizzard of fire from Ak-47s and machine guns, from mortars and rocket-propelled grenades."  

                    Dakota and Juan drove into the killing zone - not just once or twice but five times.  Each time they found wounded men Dakota would jump out of Humvee - exposing himself to the fire - to put the wounded men into the Humvee and take them for help.  Dakota was shot in the arm on one of the trips.  On the fifth trip into the village, the fire seemed "to come from every window, every doorway, every alley.  And when they finally got to those trapped Americans, Dakota jumped out.  And he ran toward them.  Drawing all those enemy guns on himself.  Bullets kicking up the dirt all around him.  He kept going until he came upon those four Americans, laying where they fell, together as one team.

                    "Dakota and the others who had joined him knelt down, picked up their comrades and - through all those bullets, all the smoke, all the chaos - carried them out, one by one.  Because, as Dakota says, `That's what you do for a brother.'"  Dakota accepted the Medal of Honor in the name of his brothers.

                    Dakota Meyer, who served in both Afghanistan and Iraq, did not stop being a hero nor fighting for his "brothers" when he came home.  Today he has a new mission "to use his fame to draw attention to the alarming unemployment rate among veterans who have served since 9/11."  He doesn't care that much about being a Medal of Honor recipient, "but if I can use that to help veterans get jobs, I will."

                    The statistics about post-9/11 veterans are very sobering: 9.5 percent unemployment (national average 8.2 percent).  The rate for veterans 24 years and younger is 29 percent unemployment (civilian rate is approximately 17 percent).  Neither Meyer nor any of the veterans want charity or feel any sense of entitlement; they simply want jobs.

                    Meyer wants to "make a difference."  His mission is to help the veterans to obtain the proper "tools" in order to compete for jobs successfully.  His mission is being helped along by Toyota and the United States Chamber of Commerce, which has instituted a campaign called Hiring Our Heroes to encourage businesses to hire veterans.  This joint effort will help service members and veterans prepare effective resumes, improve their interview skills, and find jobs as well as encourage businesses to hire veterans.  An added plus of helping veterans to find jobs is national security:  if people know they will be helped when they return from serving their country, they will be more likely to volunteer for the job.   (See Bill Hewitt, "Man on a Mission," Parade Magazine, August 19, 2012, pp. 14-15.)  Dakota Meyer is a modern-day hero.  We should all be very proud of him!

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Veterans Day History

                    The Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France, and brought World War I - "The Great War" - to an official close.  An "armistice" or temporary end of fighting between the Allied nations and Germany was effective on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month - November 11, 1918.  World War I was supposed to be "the war to end all wars." 

                    In November 1919, President Woodruff Wilson declared Armistice Day to be November 11:  "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…."

                    November 11 became a legal holiday by Congressional Act on May 13, 1938.  The day was to be celebrated and known as "Armistice Day" and to be "dedicated to the cause of world peace."  Armistice Day was a special day to honor the veterans of World War I, but other wars caused different thinking.  The "greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen in the Nation's history" took place in World War II, and aggression in Korea required more American forces.  On June 1, 1954, the Act of 1938 was amended:  "Armistice" was changed to "Veterans," and November 11th became a day to honor the veterans of all wars.

                    President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first "Veterans Day Proclamation" on October 8, 1954:  "In order to insure proper and widespread observance of this anniversary, all veterans, all veterans' organizations, and the entire citizenry will wish to join hands in the common purpose…." 

On that same day, President Eisenhower designated Honorable Harvey V. Higley, Administrator of Veterans' Affairs (VA) as Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee.  In 1958 the White House declared that this designation applied to all future VA Administrators.  Since the VA became a cabinet-level department in March 1989, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has served as the chairman of the committee.

The purpose of the Uniform Holiday Bill, signed June 28, 1968, was to create more three-day weekends for Federal employees.  The law moved four national holidays to Mondays - Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day - in an effort to "encourage travel, recreational and cultural activities and stimulate greater industrial and commercial production."  Some states did not agree with the law and continued to celebrate the holidays on their original dates.

There was much confusion on October 25, 1971, the first Veterans Day under the new law.  The historic and patriotic significance of November 11 as a day to honor veterans became very obvious.  President Gerald R. Ford signed a bill on September 20, 1975, to observe Veterans Day on November 11, starting in 1978.  I remember the confusion about Veterans Day during those years.  It seemed that no one really knew which day was Veterans Day!

Today Veterans Day is observed on November 11.  "The restoration of the observance of Veterans Day to November 11 not only preserves the historical significance of the date, but helps focus attention on the important purpose of Veterans Day:  A celebration to honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good."

Information and quotes are from www.va.gov.  http://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp

Veterans

Veteran’s Day is a legal federal holiday in the United States and a special day set apart to honor the men and women who serve in the United States Armed Services. Veteran’s Day is always celebrated on November 11. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11 as Armistice Day in 1919 because he wanted Americans to remember the horrors of war. A law was passed in 1938 making the day a federal holiday, and in 1954 Congress changed the holiday’s name to honor all United States veterans.

We can honor the veterans of all the wars by remembering that they sacrificed to preserve our liberties. We can honor them by embracing the type of values and principles that are worth fighting to protect. We can make our veterans proud of us by our own personal commitment, courage and compassion. We can live our lives with honor and good behavior. We can verbally express our gratitude for their service to our country. A simple “thank you” to our service men and women helps them to know that their service and sacrifices have not been in vain.

I send a special “thank you” to all the men and women who are serving in the military or have served in the military of our great nation. Thank you for standing between us and those who want to destroy liberty. Thank you for being willing to endure hardships and make sacrifices to protect us.

Dr. Sam Bierstock wrote the lyrics to a song called “Before You Go,” and his band provided the music. This song pays tribute to the veterans of World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, but it applies to all our veterans. You can find the song and information about Dr. Sam here

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! To all the military veterans of any war or peace time activity, thank you so much for your service and your sacrifice!

Before You Go

For this Freedom Friday, I want to tell you a story about Dr. Sam Bierstock who is a professional musician and entertainer as well as a physician. Dr. Sam formed a musical group in 1996 called "Dr. Sam and The Managed Care Blues Band." This band uses satire, great music and humor to entertain and has performed in more than forty states and sold many thousands of CDs.

Dr. Sam returned from a cross-country trip and arrived at an airport in Florida at 1:00 A.M. in the summer of 2002. He found his car and arrived at the collection booth. There he wished the attendant a good evening. The elderly attendant gave an angry and resentful reply, "I took two bullets for this country and look what I am doing now!" Dr. Sam drove a few feet while digesting what had just happened. He backed up and said to the attendant, "Sir, I have had a wonderful life in this country, and I want to thank you sincerely for what you did to preserve our way of life in this country." The attendant said nothing in response but began to cry.

Dr. Sam was haunted by his experience and started to think of the members of his family who had served in World War II. "He realized that not only would our entire way of life and system of freedom been destroyed, his parents and grandparents would have been killed, he would never have been born and his children would not exist. The same fate would have been met by virtually all other members of minorities, many religious groups, and the disabled. The personal freedoms that we take so much for granted would have disappeared. `How", he thought, `do you thank someone enough for the existence of your children, and for all of the freedoms and opportunities that we all take so much for granted?' "

Dr. Sam wrote the lyrics to a song called "Before You Go" the very next morning. The words came easily to him because they came from his heart, but he had a difficult time finding the right music. It was not until the summer of 2005 that he was able to find someone to write the music - and that person happened to be a new keyboard player in his band. "Before You Go" was finally recorded.

Dr. Sam was aware that the veterans of World War II were dying at a rate of 1,000 to 2,000 per day, and he wanted this song to reach as many of them as possible before they died. He made the decision to put his recording for free listening on the Internet.

My father-in-law was a veteran of World War II and died before I could send this song to him. Please make sure that every World War II, Korean War, or Vietnam War veteran that you know hears "Before You Go" before their time on this earth is gone.