Because of the newspaper deadline, I am writing this just before the election so it is at the office in time to be published two days after the election and five before Veterans Day. This year, these two days flow together.
Nasty campaigning is nothing new in our country. It has been that way ever since President Washington cleaned out his desk and moved back to Mount Vernon. Our nation survived. God willing, our democracy will continue far into the future.
One important reason is the steadfast loyalty of our veterans. That’s been true even we let them down. Revolutionary War veterans were promised a bonus, but they were angry because it was slow in coming. Ditto after the War of 1812 and Civil War.
No preparations were made for the millions of World War I veterans when they came home after. Once the victory parades were over, they were left to their own devices.
Frustrated, many protested and marched on Washington, but they did not take up arms much less burn and loot anything. They had begun their military careers by taking the Oath of Induction, pledging to defend America from all enemies without and within.
That oath didn’t end with their discharge papers; it was made for life. My reason to have hope for our nation’s future is our veterans.
We do the right thing for them by being present at our local Veterans Day observance. When we show up, it lets them know that old-fashioned, quiet patriotism is far more important than campaign rhetoric.
Each year at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year, we gather as a community to honor and remember the men and women, down through the centuries, who have served in the military.
That’s because on Nov. 11 at 11 a.m., papers were signed to end to The Great War, now known as World War I, “The War to End All Wars” or so they hoped.
In the 1940s, after World War II, President Truman desegregated the military and the observance name was changed from Armistice Day to Veterans Day.
By then, something else was different. In 1943, before Allied victory was secured, President Roosevelt and Congress laid out plans for the Veterans Administration.
When the service men and woman came home, they were not merely going to be dumped on our shores. The GI Bill would offer free education in colleges, universities, trade and art schools. The promise of VA housing made it possible for them to enjoy the American Dream they had given so much to defend.
World War I ended leaving much of Europe still in turmoil. The economy was destroyed, millions were dead or wounded, and the infrastructure left in tatters too. Worse, the old political stability was forever gone.
The German kaiser was exiled to the Netherlands, replaced by a succession of short-lived, feeble governments that led to a devastating inflation rate and more suffering that finally gave rise to Hitler.
In Italy, there was such instability that a newspaper reporter and editor rose to power as “Il Duce.” In Russia, the czar and his family were murdered and replaced by communist radicals Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin.
Only the United States was flourishing. But things here were not perfect either. The nation was divided over politics, race and religion. The Spanish Flu killed millions.
Some believed socialism, or even the Russian version of communism. was the right way to go. A few years later the Silver Shirts and Ku Klux Klan were marching in our streets, believing that Mussolini and Hitler were right. Others thought if we just ignored it, all the bad stuff would go away.
Despite the challenges, we stayed true to the hopes of our Founding Fathers. And that happened for one reason: our veterans.
Even during the Jan.6, 2021 Capitol insurrection, the vast majority of our veterans held firm. They rejected the mass hysteria of thugs who stormed the building.Their Oath of Induction was to the Stars and Stripes and the U.S. Constitution, not blind loyalty to one man. They were not going to desecrate the nation’s capitol and violate their oath.
Without our veterans, we would not have the nation we know today.
Even so, everything is not perfect. Something is wrong and we have the responsibility to work together to make changes and corrections.
We will roll up our sleeves and sing a WWII song: “We did it before, we’ll do it again, and this time we’ll do it right!” We will get to work and follow the 4H motto of making the best better.
We owe more to our veterans than we can ever know.
