The shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, last week have cast a pall over Veterans Day. Maj. Nidal Hasan allegedly killed 13 people and wounded 29. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama will likely send more troops to Afghanistan by January, and troops are still stationed in Iraq where the violence seems to have subsided but the country is still in a volatile state.
It all serves as a reminder of the importance of the U.S. military in defending our freedoms and preserving our interests. If most people don’t take time to think about our men and women in uniform, and the tasks accomplished by current and previous generations of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen, today would be a good day to start. This is Veterans Day.
Nov. 11, 1918, was the day the big guns fell silent to end World War I. The now famous 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month signaled the end of four years of the most horrible warfare the world had seen to that time. It was so bad, it was called the war to end all wars. If only. In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Nov. 11 Armistice Day.
Though the day started out to honor World War I veterans, the seeds of World War II were planted in the Treaty of Versailles, signed by the allies against Germany in June 1919. By the end of World War II, many millions more veterans needed recognition and, on June 1, 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower signed into law Veterans Day and Nov. 11 became a day to honor all veterans.
We all owe veterans a debt of gratitude for their immense sacrifice. While most of us go about our daily lives, they are in war zones, manning ships, flying aircraft or home safely from current and previous wars. Some veterans come home through Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where all veterans killed in action return for burial. Some end up in Walter Reed Army Hospital with wounds and scars of battle. Others appear to have come home unscathed but what they carry in their memories will be with them for life.
We ask a lot from our men and women in uniform and they never fail to deliver. We’ll use this day to honor all veterans but, really, every day is Veterans Day.
Editorials
Editorial: Honor America's veterans today
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Editorial: Preacher has right to burn Quran, responsibility not to
Fundamentalist preacher Terry Jones wants to burn copies of the Quran outside his Gainesville, Fla., church on the ninth anniversary of 9/11.
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Editorial: Get real about state school funding
Is this a joke? Recently Madison County’s Democratic state legislators came up with a weak proposal to offer tax breaks to individuals and corporations if they donate to the public school system.
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Our view: Diversification, education key to job gains
There’s no escaping the facts that, on this Labor Day, Madison County suffers from a high unemployment rate (11.7 percent in July) and that many folks are underemployed.
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Editorial: Suit could lead to better county service
A few months ago in Delaware County, the mayor of Muncie sued the county commissioners in a dispute over 911 funds.
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Editorial: Anderson University students bring energy back to community
The first official day of fall is still three weeks away. But it’s beginning to feel more and more like the mild and often glorious respite between summer and winter has already arrived.
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Editorial: Give what you can to United Way
The United Way of Madison County held its annual campaign kickoff on Tuesday and the organization hopes to raise $850,000, which is what it brought in last year.
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Editorial: Schools chief must sell Legislature on funding
State schools superintendent Tony Bennett offered Indiana nothing new in his first state of education speech.
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Editorial: Teachers contract failed to address precisely who gets $1,200 payment
Unless they address all of the specifics, contracts aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.
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Editorial: You Said It:
About busing, missing students
and the Shadyside deal -
Editorial: It’s long past time to raze former Emge plant
Time marches on, leaving old remnants of success in its path. So it is with the former Emge packing plan and stockyard on Anderson’s west side.
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Editorial: Preacher has right to burn Quran, responsibility not to
