The recent war in Iraq and continuing war in Afghanistan give Veterans Day special urgency. The nation is encountering new types of warfare and its consequences, which include several deaths of soldiers from Maine this year. Today we recall with new respect the veterans of wars past and present.
Congress voted for Armistice Day as a legal holiday in 1938, 20 years after the first armistice ended the carnage of World War I on Nov. 11, 1918. Although the first world war was originally called the “war to end all wars,” by the late 1930s few believed that hope could still be kept alive. Storm clouds were building in Europe, and on Sept. 1, 1939, World War II began when Hitler’s troops invaded Poland.
In 1953, the people of Emporia, Kan., began calling the holiday Veterans Day as a tribute to the veterans of their town. Soon after, Congress passed a bill introduced by a Kansas congressman renaming the national holiday Veterans Day. The name will remain as long as there are caring people to remember its significance every Nov. 11.
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month is set aside each year in solemn remembrance of the first Armistice Day, when the world rejoiced and celebrated after four years of unspeakable horror, and to remember the sacrifices men and women made in order to ensure a peace that would last for many years.
Over the years, the way Americans celebrated Veterans Day shifted from solely honoring the dead to honoring veterans of all wars. Especially after the nation’s long involvement in the Vietnam War, the holiday’s emphasis was broadened to include not only parades and patriotic orations in village squares but also gatherings at major landmarks such as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, where people walk silently along the wall, placing gifts and standing in quiet vigil. Often their hands fall over the names of those who made the supreme sacrifice in an unpopular war never officially declared by Congress.
Support groups organized by veterans of military service, including the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, work tirelessly each November to raise money for their charitable activities by selling paper poppies crafted by disabled veterans. Although a more frequent sight in past years than today, the imitation bright red wildflower is still seen tucked into lapels as a symbol of World War I and its countless bloody battles. They are memorialized in a John McCrae poem, written after a 1915 battle in Europe. Its opening line reads, “In Flanders fields the poppies blow / Between the crosses, row on row.”
As Americans remember their military veterans — those who served in times of war and peace — it should be with some degree of shame at how poorly the nation has cared for its aging warriors and those who recently returned from combat zones.
The Veterans Administration health care system will be stressed in coming years as baby boomer vets approach senior citizen age. And the needs of veterans who have experienced conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan will continue to be felt. The unacceptably high rate of suicides in returning soldiers and the increasingly visible scars known as post-traumatic stress disorder remind us that much more must be done to help these men and women cope with the mental strains of their service.
Early diagnosis and treatment — a principle that yields results in all sectors of health care — ought to be the goal of care for veterans as well, especially for those bearing the psychological wounds of war, because it will ultimately save the public money, and it is the right thing to do.
This Veterans Day, please take a few minutes to thank a member of your own family who served or is serving this country. Their courage and dedication ensures the freedom many take for granted. Finally, remember veterans in your prayers. Remember that America’s veterans are common Americans of uncommon valor and devotion to duty. This day belongs to these gallant Americans.
Honor Our Veterans
Most Americans want to honor our Veterans. This has been a wonderful practice as far as it has gone — memorials, parades, medals, prayers and support. What we as a nation have failed to do is honor these men and women by being the nation we all learned about and grew up loving and wanting to protect and preserve.
What needs to be done most immediately is putting aside party politics and everyone working for compromises that will be in the best interest of all the American people. To honor those brave men and women who have sacrificed so much we as a nation need to be one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
We need to be a nation of the people, by the people and FOR the people. No less can be given to honor our Veterans.
It is that time of the year again. Time to run over to WalMart and buy a Chinese made American flag to waive around when we are talking about patriotism.
There have been more combat deaths in Afghanistan in the last year since Obama announced withdrawal plans than any previous year.
The editorial “Veteran’s Day 2012”
Covered wars from World War 1, World War 2, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. An appropriate
reminder of those who answered the call.
As I write this, am preparing to pay my respects at the Maine Korean War Memorial and those
that paid the ultimate sacrafice. Many refer to as “The Forgotten War”, perhaps the
author of the editorial can tell us why Korea was never mentioned? How can we forget a war thast took 33,652 lives with 8,196 still missing in action?
CSM Paul E Tardiff, US Army (Ret) , Korean and Vietnam war veteran
I have great respect for a co-worker, supervisor, that I have worked with. At the same time, I think he was wrong. My supervisor was in collage, when due to the NY. Twin Tower suicide destruction, graduated and joined the Marine Corps. The reason he has my respect, is that he acted on his convictions and placed himself in service for a greater calling. He and many other citizens put their beings in jeopardy for an ideal. He was wrong because his honor was manipulated for a lie. He was wrong because the Executive Branch of our government, at the time, manipulated his patriotism for their Neo-con agenda. G. W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz , George John Tenet, Colin Powell, manipulated the country into attacking Afghanistan and Iraq. They Lied. They used the circumstance of the Twin Towers to start a war, that has been dragging our country down ever since. It is difficult to honor the men and dishonor the mission. We know though history that the United States was not attacked in Vietnam at the Gulf of Tonkin. Millions of people died as a result of that conflict. It was a war based on a lie. Iraq and Afghanistan posed no imminent threat to the security of the United States, and they did not crash airplanes in to the World Trade Towers. Fifteen Saudi Arabians, one Egyptian, two UAE, and one Lebanese citizens hijacked airplanes, murdered the workers in the World Trade center, and the people that tried to save them. Our country dishonors our Military when they are used in conflicts of choice in pursuit of hegemony. Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was caught and assassinated by a small, well trained, and heroic team. If diplomacy had been used instead of bluster, the Taliban would have given up Bin Laden. http://www.counterpunch.org/2002/01/10/bush-enron-unocal-and-the-taliban/, I honor the veterans. Let us support a government and policies that do not make our honorable men and women wrong.
While those that have served should be thanked, regardless of what conflict they were in, the focus in this country should be preventing future vets from dying in wars that are not about our self defense. That is the most honorable thing we could do for our men and women in uniform.