Tag Archives: veterans day

Standing watch

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Even with the longest U.S. federal government shutdown in modern history and the cancellation of myriad Veterans Day parades, observations, and related airshows, some watches are still maintained.

At Arlington, the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as “The Old Guard,” continues to stand watch at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier 24/7 as it is considered a sacred, unquestionable duty. This perpetual watch is maintained regardless of weather or national events, and has been standing continuously since 1948.

An interview with Tomb Guards on what goes into the honor.

On a smaller level…

In Hattiesburg, for at least the past 35 years, the University of Southern Mississippi’s ROTC programs have performed a 24-hour vigil around the four granite pillars of Hattiesburg’s Veterans Memorial Park from 1100 on 10 November until the City’s Veterans Day ceremony begins the next day at 1100. The cadets take shifts in standing watch over the pillars bearing the names of the 173 individuals from the Hattiesburg area who died at war, from 1917 to the present day.

Although the “official” vigil was canceled due to the shutdown, volunteer cadets from USM’s Army and Air Force ROTC units, many not under scholarship, have begun the watch and held it overnight, with temperatures dropping into a hard freeze.

Because honor.

The observance is about so much more than Veterans Day sales.

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Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 making it an annual observance, and it became a national holiday in 1938.

Sixteen years later, then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation changing the name to Veterans Day to honor all those who served their country during war or peacetime.

On this day, the nation honors military veterans — living and dead — with parades and other observances across the country and, in particular, a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

According to the Census Bureau and VA, there are some 16.5 million living military veterans in the United States in 2021. Of those, some 25 percent of the total are aged 75 and older while just 8.2 percent of veterans were younger than 35. Telling statistics.

A Bit of War History, The Veteran, by Thomas Waterman Wood (American, Montpelier, Vermont 1823–1903 New York), circa 1866

Freedom isn’t free, folks.

Also, be there for your fellow humans.

Veteran suicide is on the decline, but it continues to claim lives.

According to the 2022 NATIONAL VETERAN SUICIDE PREVENTION ANNUAL REPORT:

  • In 2020, there were 6,146 Veteran suicide deaths, which was 343 fewer than in 2019. The unadjusted rate of suicide in 2020 among U.S. Veterans was 31.7 per 100,000.
  • Over the period from 2001 through 2020, age- and sex-adjusted suicide rates for Veterans peaked in 2018 and then fell in 2019 and 2020. From 2018 to 2020, age- and sex-adjusted suicide rates for Veterans fell by 9.7%.
  • Among non-Veteran U.S. adults, age- and sex-adjusted suicide rates also peaked in 2018 and fell in 2019 and 2020. From 2018 to 2020, age- and sex-adjusted suicide rates for non-Veteran adults fell by 5.5%.
  • In each year from 2001 through 2020, age- and sex-adjusted suicide rates of Veterans exceeded those of non- Veteran U.S. adults. The differential in adjusted rates was smallest in 2002, when the Veteran rate was 12.1% higher than for non-Veterans and largest in 2017, when the Veteran rate was 66.2% higher. In 2020, the rate for Veterans was 57.3% higher than that of non-Veteran adults.
  • From 2019 to 2020, the age- and sex-adjusted suicide rate for Veterans fell by 4.8%, while for non-Veteran U.S. adults, the adjusted rate fell by 3.6%.
  • From 2019 to 2020, among Veteran men, the age-adjusted suicide rate fell by 0.7%, and among Veteran women, the age-adjusted suicide rate fell by 14.1%. By comparison, among non-Veteran U.S. men, the age-adjusted rate fell by 2.1%, and among non-Veteran women, the age-adjusted rate fell by 8.4%.
  • In each year from 2001 through 2020, age- and sex-adjusted suicide rates of Recent Veteran VHA Users exceeded those of Other Veterans. The differential in adjusted rates was smallest in 2018, when the rate for Recent Veteran VHA Users was 9.4% higher and largest in 2002, when the rate was 80.9% higher. In 2020, the age and sex-adjusted suicide rate of Recent Veteran VHA Users was 43.4% higher than for Other Veterans.
  • In 2020, suicide was the 13th leading cause of death among Veterans overall, and it was the second leading cause of death among Veterans under age 45.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic was announced in early March 2020. By the year’s end, COVID-19 was the 3rd leading cause of death in the United States, both overall10 and for Veterans. Despite the pandemic, the Veteran suicide rate in 2020 continued a decline that began in 2019.
  • Comparisons of trends in Veteran suicide and COVID-19 mortality over the course of 2020, and across Veteran demographic and clinical subgroups, did not indicate an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Veteran suicide mortality.

If you or someone you know needs help –

Link: https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/suicide_prevention/index.asp

 

Remember to take a moment today

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The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates there are about 20 million living American Veterans including 1.6 million over age 85. The largest group, some 7.7 million, are Gulf War-era vets followed by 6.2 million who served during the Vietnam-era. There are 1 million Korean War-era vets.

The smallest group are living World War II-era veterans, whose numbers have declined to about 325,000. Keep in mind over 16 million members of the Greatest Generation served during those trying years.

By the end of the decade, the VA expects the number of WWII vets to decline into the low four-digit numbers.

Remember to thank all Veterans for their sacrifices today.

Remember, today is not about how much you can save on bedding

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“Infantryman” by Capt. Harry Everett Townsend, American Expeditionary Force to France, 1918, via U.S. Army Museum/CMH

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words

To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…

Remember, its not about saving 20 percent on bedding today

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veterans day

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words

To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…

Remembrance and Veterans Day

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Odds are you know one. Shake their hand. Tell them thank you and mean it. If you can, help. This includes calling your lawmakers and asking for full funding for veterans care and benefits. Then repeat for the next 364.

For all those who read this today who have worn any uniform, thank you for your service.

 

Its not about free six-inch subs and sales at the mall…

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US_64th_regiment_celebrate_the_Armistice

The picture above shows soldiers of the 64th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division of the US Army Expeditionary Force in France celebrate at the stroke of the 11th Hour, of the 11th Day of November 1918. This is when the ceasefire armistice went into effect between all of the Allies and the Germans in what was then known as the Great War.  They are happy because the survived. For them, the war, with its mustard gas, machine-guns, artillery, and trench warfare was over and it did not claim their mortal vessel.

Today we think of this day as Veterans Day but in 1918 it was Armistice Day. In no less than 70 countries around the world, this day is remembered with somber introspection. Over 37-million lost their lives in that war, including no less than 117,465 Americans.

 

Overseas, today is Remembrance Day, with the same roots and same meaning...entire generations of Britons, Frenchmen, Russians, Germans, Austrians, Rumanians, Poles, Italians, Ukrainains, Hungarians, Serbs, Croats, Bulgars, Turks, and Greeks were lost in the great chasm that was marked by the reapers as 1914-1918.

Overseas, today is Remembrance Day, with the same roots and same meaning…entire generations of Britons, Frenchmen, Russians, Germans, Austrians, Rumanians, Poles, Italians, Ukrainians, Hungarians, Serbs, Croats, Bulgars, Turks, Czechs, and Greeks were forever lost in the great chasm that was marked by the reapers as the years 1914-1918.

In fact, the war was so bitter, so ghastly, so abominable, that it led to the Kellogg-Briand Pact ten years later in which in effect, bans all wars. This led, in turn, to the Great War being then known as the “War to End all Wars”.

Although we have lost our last Great War veteran of what we call now World War One, we will still have to mourn new warriors lost in war every year for a foreseeable future.

To them, those hardy Doughboys in 1918, and all those who have fallen and served before and since, we remember.

To the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Coastguardsmen, and Marines of today, we toast.

Veterans Day_1

Today is a special Day

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Know a vet? shake his hand and thank him. Related to a vet, give them a hug  today. Veteran in crisis? Dial

1.877.424.3838 for 24/7 assistance. Support the National Coalition for Homeless Vets at

http://www.nchv.org/

Think about this…   SSGT David Bellavia went into a house with six insurgents in Falluja on his 29th birthday (which incidentally is Nov 10th).

Then things got real…..