Jim Scanlon (deceased)
Senior Staff
FORUM CHAPLAIN
Commander South Texas outpost of the County Sligo Squadron
Currently: Offline
Posts: 5,075
Location:
Joined: July 2007
Retired: USAF NBA: Spurs NFL: Niners MLB: Giants NHL: Penguins
|
Post by Jim Scanlon (deceased) on Nov 10, 2009 6:48:26 GMT 9
:us_flag :salute :us_flag :salute
JIM SCANLON'S SOAPBOX
9 November 2009
Wednesday is Veteran's Day in the United States. It is Remembrance Day in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain.
I grew up with the day being called Armistice Day. It commemorated the day that World War One ended, 11 November 1918. The papers were signed by Germany and the Allies at the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month.
World War One was supposed to be “The War to end all Wars”. The League of Nations was formed and it's first meetings were held in 1920. The Senate of the Unites States never approved the treaty that would have made the U.S. a member.
The rise of Nazi Germany and Adolph Hitler were, in great part, the result of the League of Nations attempting to bankrupt and suppress Germany. The Nationalsozialialsmus, the National Socialist (Workers') Party, came in to being and took over the League of Nations approved government. Soon, the world was again at war.
World War Two began in 1939, when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia.
In 1945, two atomic bombs were exploded over Japan, ending World War Two. Those weapons were supposed to be enough of a deterrent to stop all future wars.
Wrong.
In June 1950 the Army of North Korea came across the 38th Parallel and the Korean War began. That war has never ended.
There has never been an armistice signed by the North Korean government and the United Nations and the United States. There are periodic meetings, but nothing happens.
The Second Indochina War began in 1959 and ended in 1975. We call it the Viet Nam War.
There were a number of small scale “wars” involving American forces, in various parts of the world over the years of the Cold War. There was also the Cold War, that began as World War Two ended and to some extent is still going on.
In 1990 and 1991, our military was involved in a war in the Middle East after Iraq invaded Kuwait.
Then the first act of the war we are currently involved in took place on 11 September 2001, with two airliners being flown in to the World Trade Center towers in New York City, one being flown in to the Pentagon and one crashing in Pennsylvania, after the passengers overtook the terrorists who hijacked the plane.
This chronology does not include the wars our nation has fought since the War for National Independence. There were several. The most devastating being the War Between the States from 1861 to 1865, that almost destroyed our Republic.
In 1954 President Eisenhower signed a bill changing the name from Armistice Day to Veteran's Day. The new name was to honor the veterans of all of our nations wars. All the living, the dead and those missing or unaccounted for.
Last week we were reminded of the dangers of serving in our military. There was a C17 that landed at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, carrying the remains of members of our military who gave the Full Measure of their Devotion in Afghanistan. Their flag-draped coffins were taken from the airplane and then taken to their home towns for their families to bury them. Each of them was buried with full military honors.
They were heroes.
Also last week, there was a horrible event that took place at Fort Hood,Texas, our nation's largest military installation. On this Army base, the size of Rhode Island, are assigned some 50,000 military personnel. Many of our troops in Southwest Asia belong to this base, and others process through Fort Hood.
Last Thursday afternoon, and Army major entered a medical processing center and began firing at random. He killed 13 and wounded over 30, including the Fort Hood Policewoman who shot the major after being shot by him.
This horrific action bring home the danger of serving in the military, when a terrorist decides to take the lives of some of those who enlisted to protect us.
Terrorism knows no boundaries and knows no sex, race, religion or any thing else. Terrorists kill for whatever reason they have, just to kill.
This Veteran's Day we are living with an awful reminder of the cost of war, the war in Southwest Asia and the war on terror here at home.
It is costly. Too costly. Every life lost in a war is a tragedy, to each family and to our nation.
William Tecumseh Sherman, a Civil War general said: "War is Hell".
It is, indeed. Not just for those involved, but for those who have family and friends involved in a war.
On this Veteran's Day, proudly fly our National Standard and give thanks to Almighty God for His protection for our nation in all the wars we have fought. Give thanks for all those who gave “The Last Full Measure of their Devotion” to their nation. Give thanks to all those who have served in and with our military in the years of our Republic. Ask God to protect those who are going forth in to Harm's Way to protect us and our Republic.
When you see a veteran, thank him or her for their service. When you see someone still serving, thank them for their service and devotion.
Remember, it wasn't the politicians who kept us free, it was the men and women of our military, who were willing to place themselves in Harm's Way to preserve and protect our Republic.
OLD PASTOR OZ (AKA Jim Scanlon)
:god_bless_usa
|
|