.History: Veteran's Day
Source of Recipe
butlerwebs.com
Recipe Introduction
Remember
It was the Veteran, not the reporter,
who has given us the freedom of the press.
It was the Veteran, not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.
It was the Veteran, not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to fair trial.
It was the Veteran, not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to demonstrate.
It is the Veteran, who salutes the flag,
who served under the flag,
and whose coffin is draped by the flag,
who allows the protestor to burn the flag.
Written by Father Denis Edward O'Brien, USMC
All Gave Some - Some Gave All
List of Ingredients
Veteran's Day...Formerly Known as Armistice Day
Recipe
Veteran's Day is dedicated to honor all men and women, both living and deceased, who have served in the nation's armed forces.
It is a legal federal holiday in the United States. Veteran's Day is always celebrated on November 11th, regardless of the day of the week on which it falls.
In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11th as Armistice Day to commemorate the end of World War I, which took place at the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month. Congress changed the name to Veteran's Day in 1954.
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, 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 holidiay 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.
Armistice Day Changed To Honor All Veterans
Realizing that peace was equally preserved by veterans of WW II and Korea, Congress was requested to make this day an occasion to honor those who have served America in all wars. In 1954 President Eisenhower signed a bill proclaiming November 11 as Veterans Day.
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 1973, a law passed providing interment of an unknown American from the Vietnam War, but none was found for several years. In 1984, an unknown serviceman from that conflict was placed alongside the others. To honor these men, symbolic of all Americans who gave their lives in all wars, an Army honor guard, The 3d 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.
National Ceremonies Held at Arlington
The focal point for official, national ceremonies for Veterans Day continues to be the memorial amphitheater built around the Tomb of the Unknowns. At 11 a.m. on November 11, a combined color guard representing all military services executes "Present Arms" at the tomb. The nation's tribute to its war dead is symbolized by the laying of a presidential wreath. The bugler plays "taps." The rest of the ceremony takes place in the amphitheater.
Every year the President of the United States urges All Americans to honor the commitment of our Veterans through appropriate public ceremonies.
------ Tin And Bone ------By Linda A. Copp ©
I had but, six soldiers of tin in my hand,
And I was their leader upon grass or land.
For they were to carry the truth of command,
from mountain to mountain, from shoreline to sand.
And freedom they'd sing out, they'd say with each shot
As flags went a whirling and battles were fought.
They be the Spirit of Seventy-six.
They be reformers who tyranny fix.
And guarding each mountain, each hill and each pass,
Indestructible champions of tin and not glass,
Brought forth the heritage that had made them so strong,
Had made them the metal to which they belong.
And glass fixtures tumbled until came the dawn,
When iron found fighters now, covered the lawn.
And the seventy's brought to a quick turning end,
the six wise tin soldiers who wished to defend,
Freedom and Liberty in another's young land.
They lay there fallen, slaughtered in blood, mud, and sand.
But, six is too many to fall so in vain,
to sleep in the senselessness, indifference and rain.
For the land isn't ours and the people don't care,
how many men fall for the poor man, bone bare.
And how can one blame them for wanting their rice!
How very short life without dying thrice
from health, or hunter, or dropping stone
thrown from a building once called your own.
So, gather our forces and bring them all home
for they are neither of glass or tin but of bone.
And they don't belong there, away in that land.
Stop waving the flag for you don't understand.
And bring us the sweet breath of that human lung
keep all your poems, the songs that you've sung.
For that doesn't matter your poems or your praise,
unless you can give them to the dead that you raise.
For all of the bloodshed why can't you see
that the bloodline that's dwindling from both you and me,
is the most precious and vital of any life form,
for without it the earth would be empty, inhuman
just plants, animals, stone.
Yes, freedom is our greatest gift to mankind,
But, it cannot be won by US ...
for those who can't see and are blind.
Yes, I love my freedom and my country too,
but my forefathers wanted it and fought for it too!
And when a people don't know what your flag represents,
They'll mistrust and they'll blame you and hate your presence.
So, wait until a people, the circumference of a group,
A majority of a people wants both the flag and soup.
Feeding the hungry should indeed be our cause,
but empty stomachs care not, whom the bread baker was.
So, feed them and clothe them and then let them choose,
but never be offended if another they choose.
For you can care for the needy as long as they need,
You can care for their health, their people, their seed.
But, you can't in all honesty win them a war,
Or fight them a battle, if they don't wish to war.
For to them you're a stranger and right now, they don't care,
From whence comes the food, the clothing they wear.
So, the shots and the bloodshed falls all about,
as freedom and communism both cry out.
Yet neither's embraced and neither's denied,
as the masses, the peasants keep their tongues tied.
And silently wonder where it all ends,
If tomorrow will come or the road ever bends.
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