November 11 2006

Well gang, Veteran’s Day is here. Of course, November 11^th is actually Armistice Day. That was when, in 1918, we and our Allies signed an armistice giving us the win in World War I, which was THE WAR TO END ALL WARS.

     But World War II came along, and we had VE Day, Victory Europe, and VJ Day, Victory Japan, because the Germans and the Japanese were defeated separately.

     They could have been called “Unconditional Surrender” days one and two, but they weren’t.

     Then we fought to a stalemated truce in Korea. And we didn’t get a calendar date for that one. You don’t get a day on the calendar because you’ve begun years of negotiation. It’s hard to get excited about a tied ball game.

     In Viet Nam, we lost the dialogue and brought the troops home. No calendar day for that one either.

     Over the years, we became friends with Germany and Japan, and we could no longer celebrate a German defeat like Armistice Day the way we used to, nor could we forget our heroes of the “Battle of the Marne” and World War I. Many of whom were still alive.

     So, we came up with “Veteran’s Day” instead, on November 11^th. That way, we could remember the survivors, the veterans of all conflicts past, present and future, and not clutter up the calendar with the dates of all those wars that we had won, lost or tied.

     For a peace loving country like ours, all those days dedicated to wars would be a little embarrassing, to say the least.

     And in this way, instead of remembering all the individual conflicts and their outcomes, we honored all those individuals who had put their lives on the line for us, and had survived.

     Our nation is currently involved in a somewhat less that popular war. Some find that this war has certain similarities to the Viet Nam conflict. A war where the survivors, the veterans if you will, were treated like dirt because they tried to do what we asked them to do, and occasionally became lost in the horror and fog that is war. And then lost the war.

     This Veteran’s Day while honoring the veterans of conflicts past, present and future, we should begin to prepare ourselves to welcome back home men and women who went to Iraq because we said that we needed them to. Because the survivors, the veterans, when they come back, will be needing something from use in return.

     It would be pretty to think that we’ll be ready for them.

            Happy Veteran’s Day, gang.

Till next week
Helga Biermeister
Secretary