Veterans Day
November 11th, 2014
by Susan Grimm
Greetings:
DAV Commander, Tri-State Women Vets President,
Fellow Veterans and Members of this wonderful community:
When President Lincoln presented his address at Gettysburg
standing in the newly begun
Soldiers' National
Cemetery
Among the 15,000 people in attendance
were some of the 1.9
million Veterans which that conflict had added to the 80,000 Veterans
previously scattered across the nation.
We’ve all seen photographs,
the faces of
“these brave men, living and dead“
Those America Veterans had a familiar look.
They were mostly young men, and despite the over 180,000 African
American soldiers that served, they were mostly white
Their faces were tired and drawn. Their eyes were haunted.
When President Lincoln spoke
The recently re-United States of America had lost
Approximately 620,000 soldiers to that war.
that was nearly 2.5% of the American population.
If 2.5 % of the populating today died in war that would be 7
million dead.
Virtually every family in the country had felt the pain and
carried the burden of that conflict.
In his second inaugural address, two weeks before the end of
the war, the President had called on this nation to “bind up the nation's
wounds,
to care for him who shall
have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan...”
We know President Lincoln was not the first to call for
Veterans Benefits.
General George Washington convincened the Continintal
Congress to pass Legislation providing pensions for all Soldiers during the
Revolutionaly War.
That Legislation, which
was designed to assist the men who had risked and often lost everything at
home, farms, businesses… to fight in the Revolutionary War,
our War of Independence
That Legislation was largely ignored by the States,
resulting in the 1783 event during which several hundred Soldiers took Congress
hostage and demanded those pensions actually be paid. (pause)
In fact, it was not until 1832 (49 years later) that
Congress honored those pensions.
And in fact, despite President Lincolns call to care for
“him who shall have borne the battle”
it was the Veterans themselves who came together in one of
the first Veterans organizations
“The Grand Army of the Republic” to advocated Federal
pensions for Veterans. Pensions at that time were provided only to a veteran who
received a disabling injury as a direct consequence of military duty.
In 1890 as a result
of the intense efforts of the GAR, the Dependent Pension Act was passed
this statute allowed
any veteran who had served honorably to qualify for a pension if at some time
he became disabled from manual labor.
By 1906 old age alone became sufficient justification to
receive a pension.
And The GAR also initiated the observance of Memorial Day,
or Decoration Day as it was known then.
When President Woodrow
Wilson first proclaimed the end of WW1, November 11, 1919 to be Armistice
Day
4 million, 734 thousand, 991 U.S. Service members had been
mobilized Worldwide
126 thousand,000 had died
And we know those faces. These were the Doughboys,
SGT York
Ernest Hemingway, of the ambulance corps
Ace Eddie Rickenbacker,
and Corporal James Bethel Gresham of Evansville ,
buried here, in this hallowed ground
Young men who also left homes and families………
to fight 'the most
destructive, sanguinary and far-reaching war in the history of human annals.'
The resolution of the Congress that proclaimed Armistice
Day,
expressed the hope that the First World War
would be, the war to end all wars.
It suggested that those men who had died “had therefore not given their lives in vain."
But the Congress once again failed to meet it’s
responsibility to the Veterans.
Frustrated, angry and often impoverished, having been
discharged in many cases with little more than $60 and a bus ticket home,
they began to gather in Washington and by mid June of 1932 nearly
20,000 Veterans and their families had gathered in the Nations Capital once
again demanding
that the pensions promised them actually be paid.
Army Chief of Staff and World War I veteran Douglas
MacArthur, at the instruction of President Hoover directed troops to storm
several buildings that the veterans were occupying as well as their main camp,
setting tents on fire and forcing an evacuation. When it was
over, one veteran had been killed
X During the Second World
War over 16 million Americans served in the United States Armed Forces,
We know some of those faces from the Silver Screen:
Audie Murphy the Little 5'5" tall 110 pounder
from Texas
who played cowboy parts.
Murphy was the most Decorated serviceman of World War II
Don Adams, remember “Get Smart”? was wounded during the Battle of Guadal-canal
xxLee Marvin who played so convincingly in The Dirty
Dozen . Left school to join the US Marine Corps, serving as a sniper
in the 4th Marine Division. He would be sent in during the night in a small
rubber boat, prior to the rest of his platoon.
He was wounded during the Battle of Saipan, and awarded the
Purple Heart
Bea Arthur, “The Golden Girls”? was one of the
first women to become an active-duty United States Marine, serving state side
during the war as a truck driver and typist
In fact, during World War II, some 350,000 women served in
the U.S. Armed Forces, both at home and abroad. They included the Women’s
Airforce Service Pilots, who on March 10, 2010, were awarded the prestigious
Congressional Gold Medal.
The return of millions of Veterans from World War II gave
Congress a chance at redemption.
And yet, the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944—commonly
known as the GI Bill of Rights
almost never happened.
The Bill was drafted by Harry W. Col mery, a Veteran and former
national commander of the American Legion.
But it nearly stalled in Congress as members debated the
“controversial” bill.
Some shunned the idea of paying unemployed Veterans $20 a
week because they thought it
‘would diminished their incentive to look for work’.
Others questioned the concept of sending battle-hardened
Veterans to colleges and universities,
a privilege reserved at that time for the rich.
Despite all, the Bill passed by
1 vote - and was signed into law by President Franklin
D. Roosevelt June 22, 1944
XX At 08:16, 5 July
1950 American ground fire was opened against a column of North Korean tanks at
Osan, about 30 miles south of Seoul.
This was Task Force Smith, the first ground clash between
the invading North Korean and defending U.S. forces. The first American ground
casualty of the Korean War died there, Private Kenneth Shadrick of West Virginia .
By the time the Korean War Armistice
was signed,
1.8 million American Service Members had fought in the
Korean War
33,686 died in battle, and another 2,830 had died from
non-battle related illness and injury
8,176 were listed as missing in action
Records identify 66 Principal battles involving the United States in
the Korean War
Included among those Battles are:
the Battle of Bloody Ridge (August and
September 1951) where the 15th Field Artillery Battalion set a record by
firing 14,425 rounds in 24 hours
2,700
U.N. casualties were taken including 288 Americans
During the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge (September-October
1951) The 2d Division, with its attached French battalion, suffered at least
3,700 casualties.
The Battle
Resulting in China ’s
loss of nearly 40 percent of its forces in Korea at the time,
the heavy Chinese losses at Chosin ultimately enabled the UN
forces to maintain its foothold in Korea .
The troops that served at Chosin were later honored with the
nickname "The Chosin Few".
and the “Veterans of the Korean War Chosin Reservoir Battle
memorial” stands at Camp Pendleton in their honor
the Battle of Old Baldy (1952), was a
series of 5 engagements over a 10 month period with
307 Americans KIA between June 6 and Aug. 5.
By March 23, 1953 over 400 US Soldiers were dead or MIA; 100+
wounded
the Battle of White Horse (October
1952), the 10 days of battle have been described as one of the most intense
position-grasping battles for a small hill during the course of the Korean War.
the hill would change
hands 24 times after repeated attacks and counterattacks for its possession.
the Battle of Triangle Hill , after 42 days
of heavy fighting, was considered the biggest and bloodiest contest of 1952 (14
October–25 November 1952),
in 12
Days 393 Americans were dead/MIA; 1,174 wounded
In (June of 1953), In their failed efforts to take Outpost Harry,
Chinese Communist Forces had, in eight days, lost 4200
casualties. Their entire 74th Division had been decimated.
And for the first time in the annals of U.S. military history, five rifle
companies together four American and one Greek received the prestigious
Distinguished Unit Citation for the outstanding performance of their shared
mission.
114 American Men had been killed, almost 500 wounded
the Battle of Pork Chop Hill (23
March–16 July 1953),
In the first Battle U.S.
losses were 104 dead, including 63 in the 31st Infantry with only seven
survivors, 31 in the 17th Infantry and 10 among engineers and artillery
observers
By the end of the second battle Total U.S. casualties were
243 killed, 916 wounded, and nine captured
Less than 3 weeks after the second battle of Pork Chop Hill,
and after nearly two years of negotiations, diplomats from
the United States , North Korea , and China reached agreement and on July 27, 1953 signed the Korean War Armistice
effectively ending this "UN peace action",
The Korean War; with no formal peace treaty.
We left more than 7,500 American soldiers still "unaccounted for”
in the shamefully nick named “Forgotton War”
Today 28,500 American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines are
stationed in South Korea ,
on “the most heavily guarded border in the world”
The Korean War Memorial in Washington DC
FREEDOM IS NOT FREE
XX We sent more than 3
million, 403 thousand, 100 Service Members into Southeast
Asia during the Vietnam War. More than 58,000 U.S. military personnel died as a
result, and 303, 644 Americans were wounded.
We saw their faces each evening, from our living rooms, on
the nightly news.
Then We welcomed our Veterans home
with an appaling lack of both
public and institutional support.
Veterans' benefits for Vietnam era veterans were dramatically less than
those eventually enjoyed after World War
II, and Korea .
an attempt to make up for the lack of support passed in 1974
the first Vet Centers weren’t established until 1979
despite the fact that the last Americans left Vietnam
at 0835 on 30 April 1975.
And then those centers opened only after a decade of effort
by combat Vets themselves
Early Vet Center staffers were, of course: Vietnam
veterans
It was the efforts of organizations like the Disabled
American Veterans
and VA hospital personnel who first started advocating for combat
Veterans to receive benefits for their war related psychological trauma,
PTSD, this newly recognized syndrome.
The diagnosis was controversial at the time, but eventually,
the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs opened Vet Centers nationwide.
These centers helped develop many of the debriefing
techniques used nowadays with traumatized populations from all walks of life.
We continuously require the ultimate sacrifice of our
Military Men and Women.
In the Civil War in El Salvador we lost 37 US
Military, 21 of whom were buried in Arlington ,
in May of 1996.
266 died In Beirut
In Panama
US losses to the Persian Gulf War were 258
In Operation Provide Comfort, defending the Kurds, 19
American lives were lost
In the Somalia
In Bosnia
The NATO Air Campaign in Yougoslavia cost us 20
American lives
We require so much of our Veterans. We put them “on call”
24-7/ 365 days a year.
As a consequence they sometimes loose their sense of
stability, sometimes their families. We send them
where ever we want and need them to go…
And when the call comes, they still go.
A young, and very young looking, Soldier was standing guard
in my hospital in Balad , Iraq
I stopped to ask him where he was from, and how long he’d
been ‘in country’. He told me this was his 3rd tour in Iraq .
I said, “My goodness”
that’s not really what I said, but none the less he hurried
to reassure me,
“It’s ok Ma’am, since
my wife left me and took the kids I don’t even have a house payment anymore.
This tour is a lot easier.”
I wondered then and I wonder now…We have asked so much and
it has been given so freely,
What happens between November 12th and November 10th that
makes it so easy for us to forget our Veterans?
Did we come together today to mark Veterans Day of off our Collective
Check List?
Who will stand beside or Veterans tomorrow
and demand that they receive what they were promised when
they
signed their name to that proverbial check?
You know the one.
The Check made payable 'To
the United States of America
for an amount
"up to and including my life."
There has never been a question of America ’s
Veterans keeping their end of the bargain.
We know that is true because the majority of Americans woke
up and went about their business today
oblivious to what is going on in the Ukraine , Venezuela ,
or Syria .
Today we open a laptop, unlock a tablet or switch on the
evening news and are confronted once again with a world “tormented by tension and the possibilities of conflict”.
Across the table, over a cup of coffee, and in other social
settings we are quick to share our own political savvy, our view of the great strides and the missteps
of our leadership.
And while we may get caught up in expressing our political views,
today we are
reminded that America ’s
Service Members,
… do not argue their
personal philosophy or politics when the call comes. They just go.
…And the fact we have the luxury of voicing an opinion at
all,
that luxury is a gift given to each of us by the Veterans
who have gone before.
We’re a young nation.
In just over 200 years we have grown from an idealistic
group of Rebels into the most free, and unequivocally great civilization this
world has ever seen.
We have provided our citizens with freedoms undreamed of by
philosophers and kings
And we have grown to such heights, in large part, on the
shoulders of our military men and women.
The faces of Veterans today
are as varied as this diverse nation.
We are men and women, 26.4 million of us
We are Black / White /
Hispanic / Pacific Islanders
We hail from Evansville ,
Newburg, ……. and Albion , Illinois
We ARE the old lady at the VFW talking about nursing the
American Soldiers and the German POW’s during WWII.
And we ARE the warrior clad in battle garb holding a field
dressing to the wound of an injured child.
President Lincoln’s promise to
“care for those who
shall have borne the battle”
ought to be one of
our greatest privileges as American citizens.
Without the
sacrifices of our veterans, our nation would certainly not be anything like it
is today.
Yet, when it comes to caring for our veterans, in many cases
we are still
falling short,
Especially when it comes to providing quality hospital care.
Recently publicized, wide spread problems with management
and mismanagement of Veterans medical needs by the VA and; “Congress’
indifferent oversight”
has meant returning service members, have faced long wait
times for appointments, canceled appoints and frequent changes in providers resulting
in a reported 120,000 veterans left waiting for or never receiving care.
"In a world tormented by tension and the possibilities
of conflict, we meet in a quiet commemoration of an historic day of peace. In
an age that threatens the survival of freedom, we join together to honor those
who made our freedom possible. Said-- President John F. Kennedy, on November
11, 1961
He also said: "As we express our gratitude, we must
never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live
by them.”
We gather here today to honor all those Service Members who
signed that check and “Paid in Full”
And to acknowledge, thank, and even celebrate all those here among us today
and those Veterans in our communities and our neighborhoods,
who genuinely
understand
that - Freedom is anything but free.
And that in order for us all to share it, someone has to pay
the price.
It is, therefore, up to us, This generation, those of us here today,
to break the cycle of promises made but not kept
to acknowledge the
Veteran as the one true guardian of our freedom,
to give, in the words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt,
“emphatic notice to the men and women in our armed forces
that the American people do not intend to let them down.”
Thank you,
END
