On November 11th, 1921, an unknown American soldier from World War I was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, in recognition of WWI veterans and in conjunction with the timing of cessation of hostilities at 11 a.m., November 11, 1918 (the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month). President Warren Harding requested that: "All...citizens...indulge in a period of silent thanks to God for these... valorous lives and of supplication for His Divine mercy...on our beloved country." Inscribed on the Tomb are the words: "Here lies in honored glory an American soldier know but to God." The day became known as "Armistice Day." In 1954, Congress, wanting to recognize the sacrifice of veterans since WWI, proposed to change Armistice Day to Veterans Day in their honor. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, former Supreme Commander in WWII, signed the legislation.

To honor those veterans who sacrificed all, an Army honor guard from the 3d U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard) keeps day and night vigil at Arlington. At 11 a.m. tomorrow, a combined color guard representing all military service branches executes "Present Arms" at the tomb for the laying of a wreath by the president. This is followed by "Taps."

The Defense Department has totaled one measure of the price of liberty -- almost 1.2 million members of our fighting forces have died while in service to our country since the American Revolution; 1.4 million have been wounded. The numbers, of course, offer no reckoning of the inestimable value of these individual citizens' lives, and the sacrifices borne by their families. But we do know their sacrifices defended a precious gift handed down to us -- the liberties we cherish. Every day -- but today especially -- let us always hold our veterans and their families in our hearts.

On this commemoration of Veterans Day, you should encourage parents and teachers to visit the official Veterans Affairs website for instruction and learning aids on the history and significance of Veterans Day. Link to -- http://www.appc1.va.gov/vetsday/

posted 11-10-2004 03:45 PM         

Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a
jagged scar, a certain look in the eye. Others may carry the evidence
inside them:a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg
or
perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul's ally forged in the refinery
of adversity.

Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe
wear no badge or emblem. You can't tell a vet just by looking.

What is a vet? He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi
>Arabia sweating
two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't run
out of fuel.

He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose
overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic
scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.

She - or he - is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep
sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.

He is the POW who went away one person and came back another - or didn't
come back AT ALL.

He is the Army drill instructor who has never seen combat - but has saved
countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and gang members
into Soldiers, and teaching them to watch each other's backs.

He/she is the pilot/crewmember/ground support person that keeps airpower
an effective tool of national policy.

He is the carrier pilot landing on a rolling, pitching, heaving flight
during a rain squall in the pitch-black night of the Tonkin Gulf.

He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals
with a prosthetic hand.

He is the career quartermaster (Army Supply Corps) who watches the
ribbons and medals pass him by.

He is the Navy SEAL who humps endless miles of burning sand for three
days with no sleep or food and very little water to designate targets for
laser guided bombs or swims through a disease infested swamp and crawls
over
poisonous snakes under the cover of darkness to conduct intelligence on a
foreign government hostile to our own and our cherished way of life.

He is the annonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence
at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all
the
anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield
or in the ocean's sunless deep.

He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket - palsied now and
aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes
all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares
come.

He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being - a person who
offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country,
and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice
theirs.

He is a soldier, a sailor, an airman and a savior and a sword against the
darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on
behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known.

So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just
lean over and say Thank You. That's all most people need, and in most cases
it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were
awarded.

Two little words that mean a lot, "THANK YOU"

Author Unknown

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And to all the vets out there,.....

posted 11-10-2004 08:40 PM         

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bob Miller:
If anyone is ever in Washington, DC they really should see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery. It is moving to see.

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posted 11-10-2004 09:38 PM         

Nancy & Jay (Vietnam US Army,101st Airborne Division 67-69)

posted 11-11-2004 11:45 AM         

HAPPY VETERANS DAY!!!!!!!