A Veterans Thanksgiving

Originally posted 11-20-07

I am sure that many of you would think it may be odd for me to bring this subject up as Veterans Day has passed, but I find it fitting that this holiday finds itself in the same month as Thanksgiving. Yes, there are a wide variety of benefits and blessings that we bring to remembrance during this time in November. I have just chosen this blog to focus on being thankful again for our service men and women. It is long so bear with me.

In 1921, an unknown World War I American soldier was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. This site, on a hillside overlooking the Potomac River and the city of Washington, D.C., became the focal point of reverence for America’s veterans.

Similar ceremonies occurred earlier in England and France, where an unknown soldier was buried in each nation’s highest place of honor (in England, Westminster Abbey; in France, the Arc de Triomphe). These memorial gestures all took place on November 11, giving universal recognition to the celebrated ending of World War I fighting at 11 a.m., November 11, 1918 (the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month). The day became known as “Armistice Day.”

Armistice Day officially received its name in America in 1926 through a Congressional resolution. It became a national holiday 12 years later by similar Congressional action. If the idealistic hope had been realized that World War I was “the War to end all wars,” November 11 might still be called Armistice Day. But only a few years after the holiday was proclaimed, war broke out in Europe. Sixteen and one-half million Americans took part. Four hundred seven thousand of them died in service, more than 292,000 in battle.

On Memorial Day 1958, two more unidentified American war dead were brought from overseas and interred in the plaza beside the unknown soldier of World War I. One was killed in World War II, the other in the Korean War. In 1984, an unknown serviceman from the Vietnam War was placed alongside the others. The remains from Vietnam were exhumed May 14, 1998, identified as Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie, and removed for burial. To honor these men, symbolic of all Americans who gave their lives in all wars, an Army honor guard, the 3rd U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard), keeps day and night vigil.

A law passed in 1968 changed the national commemoration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. It soon became apparent, however, that November 11 was a date of historic significance to many Americans. Therefore, in 1978 Congress returned the observance to its traditional date.

Not to be confused with Memorial Day (which is set aside to honor all those who have died in the service of their country), Veterans Day is set aside to thank and honor all those who have served honorably in the military – in wartime or peacetime.

Now I must admit it is hard for me to speak about a day of such reverence without being a little political and even, perhaps, bias on the subject. The history of my family’s military service (of which I am not included), may bring some to believe it is a Buie or Davis thing. The fact is I am proud to have known that my grandfather stood in Tokyo Bay and watched across the water the signing of the instrument of surrender aboard the U.S.S Missouri, ending World War II. My father served the U.S. Army as a premier aviator, testing and developing some of the most sophisticated rotor aircraft that are in use today. And now, I can say I am proud of a brother who has dedicated himself to service in the U.S. Air Force, traveling the world as his commanders see fit, patrolling and protecting the interests and freedoms of this great land. So yeah, there is a little family history.

But what disturbs me the most, is that it seems that sometimes we, as a nation, lose sight of the commitment of military individuals. As we have entered most recent conflicts, many tend to politicize the act of military service; as if our bright, smart and intelligent young men and women have somehow been coerced into some conflict. We hear the beating drums of politicians (with many citizens wanting to crash the cymbals) crying foul that our government or its leaders are sending our youth to the grave. You can disagree politically with the decisions of our government, you can rant about your opinion whether a conflict is right or wrong (the very right you possess to do so has been bought by patriots that have fallen in much worse times than these), but you cannot say that our troops do not appreciate the position in which they are in. These men and women count it a privilege and an honor to be called the defenders of our nation. When these men and women chose to enter an academy or walked into a recruitment office, they took a solemn oath. They chose to apply a signature to a piece of paper; not an ordinary contract, but one that held their life in their nation’s hand and in the decisions of its Commander-In-Chief. Like it or not, it was not an act of coercion or act of deception. It was a decision, most times covered with prayer and the realization of utmost significance, that they willing committed themselves to the consecration of military life.

So, with all that being said, as I enter into this time of thanksgiving, I will be thankful that a day has been appointed in this country to do just that. Give thanks. The men and women, both past and present that have born the insignia of our military have given us this opportunity.

I thank you for your commitment. I thank you for your service. I thank you for your sacrifice.


Some historical references have been taken from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs website. www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/