Support Your Local Vet On Veterans Day

Hello Fort Bragg Patch! Most of you may not know me, so let me introduce myself. My name is John Smith and I am a former U.S. Army Ranger that worked with Kelly when FBP started taking its first baby steps last year in July. She told me that I could come back any time and drop a few lines and so, here I am!

It is that time of year and Kelly knows how much I love history but she also knows how active and vocal I am about veterans. We are just a few days away from the actual V-Day and our country’s observed Veterans Day (the 12^th of November). Here are just a few facts that you may not know about the well-beloved holiday that has continued to allow the United States to be the free land it still is today:

Every year, Veterans Day will annually fall on November 11. It is to mark the anniversary of the end of the hostilities of World War I between Germany and the Allied Nations, which took place in 1918.  This day is to honor not just those veterans of WWI, but all veterans though. Parades and church services all over the country will be going on all weekend long and many areas of the country will be flying the flag at half mast, as it should be. I even go to my local American Legion where we (all the soldiers) hang our heads in silence for a couple of minutes at 11am in remembrance of our fallen comrades. Why at 11 am? That is a great question! On the 11^th hour of that 11^th day of November (11^th month) of 1918, the armistice was signed which ended the war. It just seems right to do everything at 11 am. Remember that Monday is an observed holiday so most federal and state offices are closed.

Here is the gist of it all, though. Most people see this holiday as another day off and that disturbs me. They take it for granted and no, I am not saying all people do this but most do. Unless you know a soldier, you really do not sit down and think about what freedom really has cost. I do not care what price I paid or could have paid. I honestly do not. Yes, I have seen things and lost soldiers under my command and it hurts but it is the way of a soldier. I feel for my fellow soldiers. I feel for the men and women that I do not know and the families of those soldiers who I have never met. I feel for those people who have paid the ultimate price 150 years ago in the Civil War- a war that could have never taken place if people would have sat down and talked about things in a civil manner. I feel for everyone who has lost a loved one because of war. It isn’t fair but the United States, for hundreds of years, thinks it is necessary for its men and women to die for the price of freedom. I just wish there was a way around it. Until that day, honor the veterans around you because without them… you just don’t know if there would’ve been a tomorrow.