Road Apples by Tim Sanders
Nov. 12, 2012
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Veterans Day thoughts Yes, that's Veterans Day, not Veterans' Day. The apostrophe was removed due to budget cuts back during the Carter administration. And yes, we're observing it on Monday the 12th rather than Sunday the 11th this year, due to the fact that it's now illegal to hold federal holidays on Sundays, with the exception of Christmas and New Years, and of course July 4th, which is only celebrated on the 5th during Leap Years, when we all set our calendars ahead one day to keep the polar ice caps from melting. At ;east I think that's how it works. But back to Veterans Day. The word “veteran” is defined as: 1. a person who is long experienced or practiced in an activity, or 2. a person who has been through many battles. My wife and I have been married for 45 years, and have the battle scars to prove it. So, by both of those definitions you could call us veterans. But of course we are not really veterans. Traditionally, a veteran has been defined as someone who saw active military duty, and more specifically, actually engaged in combat. Veterans Day was established many years ago to honor military veterans. When it comes to veterans of marriage, well, we already have our holiday, which comes around every April 1. I never served in the military. Type 1 diabetes took that option off the table. I reached adulthood at the peak of the Vietnam War, and I've often wondered how a devout coward like myself would have fared in that conflict. I say that I'm a devout coward because of my reaction the only time a large caliber weapon was fired in my direction. When I was sixteen, my dad, some friends and I were deer hunting in northern Michigan. I was sitting at the side of a dirt road which crossed a stand of pines near a very promising deer trail. A couple of hundred yards away, alongside that same road where it crested a hill, was a fellow whom we'll call Bill, because that was his name. After about an hour of sitting there, shivering, going over what I'd do if a nice 10 point buck were to step into the road in front of me, there was a rifle shot from Bill's approximate location and a bullet hit the dirt road a few feet from my own. Feet, that is. If memory serves, he hunted with a lever action 30.30. Immediately after that bullet hit I sprang into action. I shouted “HEY!” in a very manly voice, followed by several bad words, while simultaneously jumping backwards into a thicket and covering my head with my hands. Bill arrived shortly and apologized. He said he'd seen a deer crossing the road, and shot, forgetting I was in the vicinity. Then he added that he smelled something. It was fear he smelled; I'd left a bit of it in my thermal underwear. That was only one shot in my general direction, and not by someone trying to kill me, and my reaction was less than heroic. That is why I doubt that I'd have fared well in battle. My guess would be that toilet paper is in short supply on the battlefield. I think about that solitary incident and wonder how scary it must be for soldiers in actual combat, where large groups of people are firing even larger caliber weapons at them on a regular basis. Down through our history we've had veterans who've done their duty and then quietly returned to civilian life without a whole lot of recognition. In fact, until 1954 there was no such thing as Veterans Day. And we can thank a Birmingham, Alabama veteran for its inception. Veterans Day was originally known as Armistice Day, and it was first proclaimed as a holiday by President Woodrow Wilson on November 11, 1919. The Armistice with Germany had been signed a year earlier, in the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, bringing World War I to a close. That had been the war to end all wars, and the Armistice deserved a little fanfare. In 1938 a Congressional Act made Armistice Day a yearly national holiday. Armistice Day remained as it was until 1945, when Birmingham WWII veteran Raymond Weeks led a delegation requesting that Armistice Day be expanded to honor veterans from all wars, not just WWI. General Dwight Eisenhower approved the idea, and in 1947 Weeks led the very first National Veterans Day celebration, held in Birmingham. On May 26, 1954, President Eisenhower signed the bill which officially changed Armistice Day to Veterans Day. Raymond Weeks was honored with the Presidential Citizenship Medal in a 1982 White House ceremony by President Reagan, and is now considered “the Father of Veterans Day.” Weeks continued to lead Birmingham's Veterans Day celebrations until his death in 1985. We all know men and women who've put themselves in jeopardy to preserve our freedom, or to promote freedom elsewhere in the world. Most are ordinary folks like you and me, who've managed to do extraordinary things. One of my uncles fought in the trenches in World War I, and others served in World War II. My brother served during the Korean War, and had a long career in the military. I have a dear friend who served in both Korea and Vietnam, and a brother-in-law who flew helicopters in Vietnam, was wounded and decorated for his service. I've known several folks who served and are serving our country in the Middle East. To all of these, and more, thanks. The rest of us owe you a lot. Let's hope our politicians remember that when they consider the next round of military budget cuts. In the meantime, if you can afford to send some money to the Wounded Warrior Project, or to purchase some of their apparel, please do. The organization does good work, and you can find all the information you need on the Internet. Or if money's tight, at least fly your American flag on Veterans Day. That means something, too. |