Saturday is Veterans Day
This Saturday, November 11th, is again Veterans Day.
It is well and good to remember and thank those who are still around to
thank; but let’s remember some others:
- Let’s remember the vets who sit or lay in veterans hospitals across
America. Many of these hospitals are underfunded, understaffed, run-down,
with an inadequate list of “approved” medications. We have many heroes
clinging to life in hospitals which frequently are little more than
“warehouses” rather than institutions of loving care for those who gave so
much to preserve liberty and our republic. When was the last time you
visited a vet, just to say hello or maybe, just maybe to thank him for what
he tried to do for us? Do you wear a poppy? Do you ever, in any way
acknowledge what many of these broken souls have done for us?
- Let’s remember again those “who gave the last full measure of devotion” -
those whom we once or twice a year call “those honored dead”. We honor
them once or twice a year but, to quote Lincoln, “it is altogether fitting and
proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate,
we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men,
living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far beyond our poor
power to add or detract.”
Where is that “here”? Well, Lincoln was, of course, referring to Gettysburg.
But the “here” for Americans fighting for us, for our families, and for our
Republic has been on every continent and on every one of the seven seas.
They were there. In many cases, they are there still - both the living who
currently serve and the dead who lie on foreign soil.
What about the living who can not return. There are those who say there
are no American POWs alive anywhere in the world. Is that true? Must we
automatically believe that all the sightings of POWs were lies?
Remember the U S A carefully stomped into a rice paddy (confirmed
by overhead photography)? How could that be called a mere coincidental,
natural or “unconfirmed” occurrence? Were the tall, blond-haired slave
laborers working in rice fields (reported by Swedish civilian observers)
actually short, dark-haired Vietnamese? Was the shouted phrase in English,
“Tell them we’re here!” only a garbled Vietnamese greeting?
What about the widows, parents, and children of those who served and
never returned? Do members of our communities help these people? Do
employers try to give the family remnants of the dead defenders of America
any preference in finding work and an honorable means of self-support?
Do we mean the solemn thanks we give our veterans or are our speeches,
parades, little flags on graves and so on merely a way we can show our
“thanks” for a couple hours and then forget for the rest of the year - year
after year after year?
It’s a tough question. Before we answer, let’s ponder what we’ve done for
vets and their families. Let’s compare what we find in our hearts and daily
actions against “what they gave.”
Let’s remember. Let’s “Never forget!” Let’s unite and restore what our veterans so
freely gave to preserve. Let’s work together to ensure that both the living veterans
and “these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a
new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the
people shall not perish from the earth.”
[This message has been edited by Dennis (edited November 09, 2000).]
This Saturday, November 11th, is again Veterans Day.
It is well and good to remember and thank those who are still around to
thank; but let’s remember some others:
- Let’s remember the vets who sit or lay in veterans hospitals across
America. Many of these hospitals are underfunded, understaffed, run-down,
with an inadequate list of “approved” medications. We have many heroes
clinging to life in hospitals which frequently are little more than
“warehouses” rather than institutions of loving care for those who gave so
much to preserve liberty and our republic. When was the last time you
visited a vet, just to say hello or maybe, just maybe to thank him for what
he tried to do for us? Do you wear a poppy? Do you ever, in any way
acknowledge what many of these broken souls have done for us?
- Let’s remember again those “who gave the last full measure of devotion” -
those whom we once or twice a year call “those honored dead”. We honor
them once or twice a year but, to quote Lincoln, “it is altogether fitting and
proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate,
we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men,
living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far beyond our poor
power to add or detract.”
Where is that “here”? Well, Lincoln was, of course, referring to Gettysburg.
But the “here” for Americans fighting for us, for our families, and for our
Republic has been on every continent and on every one of the seven seas.
They were there. In many cases, they are there still - both the living who
currently serve and the dead who lie on foreign soil.
What about the living who can not return. There are those who say there
are no American POWs alive anywhere in the world. Is that true? Must we
automatically believe that all the sightings of POWs were lies?
Remember the U S A carefully stomped into a rice paddy (confirmed
by overhead photography)? How could that be called a mere coincidental,
natural or “unconfirmed” occurrence? Were the tall, blond-haired slave
laborers working in rice fields (reported by Swedish civilian observers)
actually short, dark-haired Vietnamese? Was the shouted phrase in English,
“Tell them we’re here!” only a garbled Vietnamese greeting?
What about the widows, parents, and children of those who served and
never returned? Do members of our communities help these people? Do
employers try to give the family remnants of the dead defenders of America
any preference in finding work and an honorable means of self-support?
Do we mean the solemn thanks we give our veterans or are our speeches,
parades, little flags on graves and so on merely a way we can show our
“thanks” for a couple hours and then forget for the rest of the year - year
after year after year?
It’s a tough question. Before we answer, let’s ponder what we’ve done for
vets and their families. Let’s compare what we find in our hearts and daily
actions against “what they gave.”
Let’s remember. Let’s “Never forget!” Let’s unite and restore what our veterans so
freely gave to preserve. Let’s work together to ensure that both the living veterans
and “these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a
new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the
people shall not perish from the earth.”
[This message has been edited by Dennis (edited November 09, 2000).]
