Friday morning I went to my children’s Veterans’ Day Program
at school. The local VFW and assembled veterans were
seated at the front of the room while the children sat on the floor facing
them.
The mother in me was moved by all those high-pitched, little
voices trying to hit the high notes in the National Anthem. I’m always surprised how quickly my eyes well
up where my children are involved.
The daughter in me
teared up as I thought about my father.
At the age of eighteen, he was drafted into the Army and spent two years
overseas during the Korean War. His
jacket hangs in my closet; his portrait in my dining room. He was dashing. And though he never talked about those two
years, he was fiercely proud. He passed
away five years ago.
The historian in me mourned the inevitable loss of the collective
human experience over the last seventy years.
The veterans passed the microphone down the line, stating their names and ranks. “I fought in the Battle
of the Bulge.” “We bombed Hanoi.” “I was a radio operator in a B-24.” “Medic, Vietnam.” “U.S. Army Infantry, third generation
Veteran.” These men had countless
stories of duty and valor, heartache and fear, but we would not hear them. If they are anything like my father, they
don’t talk about it. They are seen as
Grandfathers and kindly old neighbors, the audacity of their youth softened by
time. Their recognition comes but once a
year, on Veterans’ Day.
I left that elementary school gymnasium and headed straight for the library. I checked out Tom Brokaw's book, The Greatest Generation. I'm on page 114 tonight, and I may just pass up the new episode of Upstairs, Downstairs to continue reading. As Brokaw states, these were ordinary men and women who were asked to do extraordinary things.
They should continue to be honored every day.
We should never forget.
My father, 1950. |
What a great post. My father in law served in Vietnam and we rarely hear him talk about it.... So I know what you are saying they quietly try to forget but we do owe them a great debt.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post, it makes me realize there are probably more people than I think that still care about the ones that sacrificed so much for their country. It seems that sentiment is rare today....
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of a school doing this, unless it is a private school. What a wonderful program! Yes, we NEED to honor those who served! Blessings from Ringle.
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