Top

Veterans Day

November 11, 2011 by · Comments Off on Veterans Day 

Veterans Day, What do these three things have in common? How about a first-of-its-kind Veterans Day intercollegiate basketball game aboard a Navy aircraft carrier with President Barack Obama in attendance!

Dubbed the Carrier Classic 11-11-11, today’s game will feature Michigan State vs. North Carolina before 7,000 fans aboard the carrier Carl Vinson anchored off Coronado in San Diego Bay. The 113,500-ton Carl Vinson and its company of approximately 3,200 sailors returned home to San Diego this past summer after a tour of duty in the Middle East. Ironically, the Carl Vinson is the same warship by which Osama bin Laden was transported and buried at sea after his death on May 2.

Thanks to an agreement between the Morale Entertainment Foundation and ESPN, which will televise the game, needed attention will be brought to the terms “dedication,” “service” and “sacrifice.” Why? For starters, tickets for the event will not be for sale but only available for a primarily military audience as a small token for their service and sacrifice.

The president’s attendance at the game after laying a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery earlier in the day raises the profile of such a game even higher. It’s no secret the president is a basketball fan. He recently needed 12 stitches in his lip after being elbowed during a pickup game. Additionally, his brother-in-law, Craig Robinson, is the head basketball coach of the Oregon State Beavers. Lastly, every year he publicly fills out his NCAA March Madness bracket during an ESPN special.

The president is not just a basketball fan. He is also a huge fan of our veterans and their families as expressed in his annual Veterans Day Proclamation. In the document released by the White House on Nov. 3, the president “call[s] on all Americans, including civic and fraternal organizations, places of worship, schools, and communities to support this day with commemorative expressions and programs.” The president and first lady Michelle Obama have also been instrumental in recently proclaiming Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day as a tribute to the sacrifices military spouses and family members make. Can there be a more commemorative expression than a collegiate basketball game – a game invented in this country – onboard a prominent symbol of American power with arguably the most powerful person in the world in attendance?

Earlier this week, Tom Izzo, coach of the Michigan State team, stated the significance of the event, noting that the game is “about the greatest team in the world … the military.” North Carolina coach Roy Williams made a similar statement: “It is an honor for Carolina basketball to play in such a unique game that will benefit and salute the United States’ armed forces.”

The history of Veterans Day makes this year in particular even more special. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, an armistice between the allied nations and Germany went into effect. On Nov. 11, 1919, Armistice Day, as it was then known, was commemorated for the first time. That same year, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the day should be “filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory.” Parades, public meetings and a brief suspension of business activities at 11 a.m. were planned all across the nation.

In 1954, veterans service organizations urged Congress to change the word “Armistice” to “Veterans.” Congress approved this change and on June 1, 1954, Nov. 11 became a day to honor all American veterans, wherever and whenever they had served.

Today, for 7,000 fans and the president of the United States, that wherever will be aboard the Carl Vinson. Where will I be this Veterans Day? As an active-duty airman, basketball fan and Michigan State alum, I’ll give you one guess. I’ll be courtside.

Veterans Day Poems

November 11, 2010 by · Comments Off on Veterans Day Poems 

Veterans Day Poems, Veterans Day began as Armistice Day, commemorating the end of the First World War when 11 of day 11 of month 11, 1918. This war, known at the time as the Great War, unleashed a torrent of poems are still remembered, some of which are already in our collection, Poems of War and Remembrance.

“In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae
“Iron” and “Grass” by Carl Sandburg
“Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen
“Aftermath” by Sassoon Siegfied
Armistice Day has since evolved into Veterans Day, a holiday to honor all who have served in any war and all wars in human history have inspired poets, going all the way back to the ancient Greeks, Homer’s Iliad, recalling the Trojan War. That’s why our collection of classic war poems includes poems of the eighth century China, 16-century England, and the American Civil War as well. However, for this Veterans Day, nearly 100 years after the Great War in the second decade of the 20, the first truly “modern” war, we selected a few more of the memorable poems that led to add our collection:
“Partners” and “back” Wilfrid Wilson Gibson
“The Soldier” by Rupert Brooke
“Youth Anthem lost” by Wilfred Owen
“Country at War” by Robert Graves

Veterans Day

November 10, 2010 by · Comments Off on Veterans Day 

Veterans Day, (CP) – America’s last surviving World War I veteran says Congress should pass legislation to create a memorial in the nation’s capital honouring veterans of that conflict.

Frank Buckles, the 109-year-old honorary chairman of the World War I Memorial Foundation, said Wednesday on the eve of Veterans Day that such a memorial is overdue.

The West Virginia resident is the last of 5 million Americans who served in World War I. He says a memorial doesn’t have to be elaborate, but a monument should be created alongside others commemorating other 20th century conflicts.

Born in 1901, Buckles was 16 when he enlisted but persuaded the Army he was 18. He saw no combat but worked as a driver and warehouse clerk in Europe and helped repatriate German prisoners after the war.

___

Online:

WWI Memorial Foundation: http://www.wwimemorial.org/

Veterans Day Thank You

November 11, 2009 by · Comments Off on Veterans Day Thank You 

VeteransDay_thumbMany are inclined to assume that when people opposes a war, they also oppose the troops serving in it.  During the Vietnam War, a small minority of protestors, mostly on the West Coast fixed that notion in the public’s perception by throwing blood at returning troops.  To this day I feel angry over that.  Most of us in the peace movement took a completely different attitude.  We accepted returning troops and listened to what they had to say.  They were a window for us, through which we could see the truth about what was happening there.  Once returning vets saw that we accepted them and did not condemn their service, more often then not they joined us in opposition to the war.

Our troops do not make policy.  They do not start wars.  They serve under oath to obey the legal orders given them.  Most perform their duties with pride and honor.  When they become involved in illegal, immoral wars such as Vietnam and Iraq, they are victims of the politicians that place them in harm’s way without just cause.  They deserve our thanks, our loyalty and our love.  They deserve the best care and benefits we can provide them because of the extreme sacrifices they have made on our behalf.

With that in mind, I considered the ongoing GOP claim that Democrats do not support our troops, but Republicans do.  I visited Project Vote Smart to learn what our veterans have to say about just who it is that has their backs.  The Disabled American Veterans gave 200 national politicians a 100% perfect rating.  All 200 are Democrats.  They gave 32 national politicians a rating of 50% or less.  All 32 are Republicans.  The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave 85 national politicians an A+, A or A- rating.  All 85 are Democrats.  They gave 49 national politicians a D, D- or F rating.  All 49 are Republicans.  It seems that Republicans call it supporting the troops whenever they vote for a measure to funnel billions into the pockets of war profiteers, but when it calls to actually taking care of our vets, they almost invariably complain about the costs and oppose it.  So I encourage you all to do remove Republicans from office.

And to those among you who have served our nation in the military, thank you for your sacrifice.

Bottom