On this day, our active duty _ and, in many cases, reserve _ military

are serving worldwide.

While the Cold War officially ended almost ten years ago, if you’ll

look around today, you’ll find Air Force personnel working out of Saudi

Arabia, keeping an eye on Iraq; U.S. Marines supporting peace keeping efforts in

East Timor; Army and National Guard personnel on duty in the Balkans; Navy

men and women serving on an aircraft carrier or destroyer somewhere in the

Pacific Ocean; and Coast Guard personnel engaged in rescue operations in the Gulf

of Mexico.

It is for them _ and for all who have served before _ that we

celebrate Veterans Day.

Official annual recognition of our veterans started on June 4, 1926,

when Congress passed a law calling on officials to “display the flag of the

United States on all government buildings on November 11, and inviting the people

of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other

suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other

peoples.” The date was selected to match the formal end of the “War to end all

wars,” which concluded in 1918 on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

The commemoration was formally designated “Armistice Day” on

May 13, 1938, and on June 1, 1954, was renamed “Veterans Day” to honor all

American veterans of all wars.

Notably, in 1968 the government attempted to make Veterans Day a

three-day federal holiday. Many states and veterans disagreed with the move

and, after some confusion, President Gerald R. Ford returned Veterans Day to

November 11. In signing the bill, President Ford said, “The restoration of

the observance of Veterans Day to November 11 will help preserve in the

hearts and lives of all our citizens the spirit of patriotism, the love of country and

the willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good symbolized by

this very special day.”

So, what is a veteran? Basically, if you served in our military _ for

however long _ you are accorded veteran’s status. One unknown author put it this way:

“Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a

jagged scar, a certain look in the eye. Others may carry the evidence inside them: a

pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg – or perhaps another

sort of inner steel: the soul’s ally forged in the refinery of adversity.

“Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept

America safe wear no badge or emblem. You can’t tell a vet just by looking. What is

a vet?

“She is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia

sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn’t run out

of fuel.

“He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks,

whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic

scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.

“She is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep

sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.

“He is the POW who went away one person and came back another –

or that didn’t come back AT ALL.

“She or he is the drill instructor who has never seen combat – but has

saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account punks and gang members

into Marines, airmen, sailors and soldiers, and teaching them to watch each other’s

backs.

“He is one of three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The

Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve

the memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with

them on the battlefield or in the ocean’s sunless deep.

“He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket – palsied now

and aggravatingly slow -who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes

all day long that his wife was still alive to hold him when the nightmares come.

“She or he is an ordinary, and yet, an extraordinary, human being. A

person who offered some of their life’s most vital years in the service of their

country, and who sacrificed their ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.

“She or he is a soldier and a savior – and a sword against the darkness,

and is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest,

greatest Nation ever known.”

Being a veteran still means sacrifice, not only while on active duty

but often long afterwards. Many serve or have served long separations from

their families and loved ones, often at great personal risk. A lot of our junior

enlisted families are in inadequate housing and surviving on food stamps. Many of

our veterans are faced with inadequate health care, limited incomes, and are

battling unexplained illnesses contracted while in combat. Yet, they serve

… proudly.

So, are you a vet? Or better yet, do you know a vet? If so, take the

opportunity Thursday to thank a veteran, be it an acquaintance, friend or family

member.

Take this opportunity to walk over, shake their hand, and say THANK

YOU for their service to the nation and the community.

And – along the same lines, for our friends about 90 miles north –

happy Remembrance Day.

Mark Morgan, Editor