Do you know what it means to be a veteran?

Gordon Garnos

AT ISSUE: There are fewer and fewer veterans today serving as our representatives to the governments in these United States of America. The ratio of the number of veterans of our military services to those who have never served is greater than it has been in 100 years. Next week we will observe Veterans Day 2009. Is there going to be a Veterans Day program in your community? When was the last time you thanked a veteran for the sacrifice he or she made for our country. Attending the Veterans Day program next week will be a good time to start.

IT WAS THE 11TH hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 when the end came to World War I. Thereafter it was known as Armistice Day – until 1954 when Congress renamed it Veterans Day to honor all U.S. military veterans.

How many veterans are there? Millions have served their country down through our nation¹s history. Today, there are more than 73,000 veterans in South Dakota.

As a kid I well remember the Armistice Day parades on the dusty main street of my home town out west of the river. There was still a company or so of World War I vets making up the parade as the younger men were off fighting another world war that was to end all wars.

I particularly remember the elderly Johnson brothers, who were honored time and again during those parades because they were veterans of the Spanish American War. But then one died and in a few years our community said goodbye to his brother as well.

THEN CAME 1945. Germany surrendered in May and then on Sept. 2 Japan signed the terms of surrender. That Nov. 11th we saw quite a parade, but the big one came the following year.

That Nov. 11th brought the biggest celebration ever seen in that dusty, little west river town. By then the boys and girls who had gone off to war came home as men and women, as veterans – back to their lives, loves and their hometowns. Celebrations rang the same everywhere. The home folks were glad to once again having these veterans back home. Perhaps now there would be some chance of normalcy.

Sadly, that was not to be. Since that time there was Korea. There was Vietnam. There were several “little wars” and today there is Iraq and Afghanistan. Each time it was and is our duty as a nation to stand up again and again to the blood of battle.

TODAY, IT SEEMS we are seeing fewer and fewer Veterans Day observances. There are no more World War I veterans alive today in that little town out west.

Codington County lost its last World War I veteran about 10 years ago. And the number of veterans from World War II are fading at the tune of about 1,200 a day.

The question is have we shown our appreciation enough for what they did back then? Yes, there are the Honor Flights from South Dakota to Washington, D. C., to view the World War II Memorial for the remaining vets, but to show our appreciation, we can do more? They, to be sure, if they are able, will be at next week’s Veterans Day programs.

Donations, big and small, for future Honor Flights are still needed. Send them to: Honor Flight, P.O. Box 947, Sioux Falls, S.D., 57104.

THE WORLD WAR II vets are pretty much out of the work force today, but there are thousands of veterans in South Dakota that still remember Korea, Vietnam, the “little wars” and today’s battles of Iraq and Afghanistan. And yes, there are ways to show your appreciation to them as well. I have heard there are employers who give their vets a day off come Nov. 11, or at least a half day. I have even heard of employers closing their businesses for the day to honor the men and women of their communities who have worn the uniform.

We also should never forget to remember veterans in your prayers, especially those who use wheelchairs and artificial limbs as a result of battle scars that will never heal, as well as those who were taken captive and those whose absence remains unaccounted for.

Veterans asked very little of their country, but gave everything they had. The least we can do is give them our sincerest “Thank you” for what they did to help keep our America free…

Gordon Garnos was long-time editor of the Watertown Public Opinion, retiring after 39 years with that newspaper. Garnos, a lifelong resident of South Dakota except for his military service in the U.S. Air Force, was born and raised in Presho.

Note: Reader comments are reviewed before publishing, and only salient comments that add to the topic will be published. Profanity is absolutely not allowed and will be summarily deleted. Spam, copied statements and other material not comprised of the reader’s own opinion will also be deleted.