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Friday, November 08, 2024
Remember and Rejoice
By Keith Koster
Commander
American Legion Department of New YorkIt is needless to point out that Veterans Day is about remembering the sacrifices of all those who have served our country in the Armed Forces.
But it should also be a day of rejoicing – “rejoicing that American manhood and womanhood always have measured up to our responsibilities,” as an American Legion speech noted 70 years ago to celebrate the first Veterans Day. President Dwight Eisenhower had signed a proclamation in 1954 changing Armistice Day, which celebrated the end of World War I, to Veterans Day.
In the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War, The American Legion led an “all Veterans Day” celebration in Emporia, Kansas, which was seen as the spark that lit the movement for November 11th to be a day to honor every American who honorably served in our nation’s military since the Revolutionary War. The advocacy paid off when President Eisenhower signed the proclamation.
The love for this country is a common thread that bonds veterans from the earliest days of our nation’s founding to those serving today. All Americans should remember those who have made our freedom possible.
There are many tangible ways that we can acknowledge their sacrifice, but the easiest is to simply say, “Thank you for your service to our country.”
As Winston Churchill spoke of the Royal Air Force’s defense of Britain in 1940: “Never was so much owed by so many to so few.”
The same could be said of American veterans in 2024.
In 1980, about 18 percent of U.S. adults were veterans. Today, it is approximately 5 percent.
Yet when Hurricanes Helene and Milton wreaked havoc on the southeastern United States, thousands of active-duty, Reserve and National Guard servicemembers mobilized to provide life-saving relief and recovery operations.
An estimated 43,000 U.S. troops and a dozen warships are deployed in the Middle East. Marine Corps detachments provide security at U.S. embassies worldwide.
Members of the Coast Guard perform an average of 42 search and rescue missions daily and facilitate the movement of $15.6 billion dollars of goods and commodities through our maritime transportation system every day.
ALL Americans benefit from the service of this small and distinguished group of volunteers who currently comprise the U.S. Armed Forces.
On this Veterans Day, we honor not an armistice, but the men and women who have served and continue to serve in the greatest military the world has ever known.
Our message to America’s veterans – past and present – is simple. We will never forget you.
