Guest Opinion: Veterans Day

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Honoring Veterans

By Skip Hellewell

Today, Nov. 11, is Veterans Day, a time to honor those who serve in our armed forces. The date was selected because World War I ended on Nov. 11, 1918, at eleven minutes after eleven o’clock. It’s different from Memorial Day, which honors those who died for their country. The Beautiful Wife takes special note of Veterans Day because her brother’s son serves on the aircraft carrier “USS George H. W. Bush,” currently somewhere in the Middle East.

The tendency of some nations to attack weaker nations is a sad fact of history. Thus a strong military is essential for defense. Following militia clashes with the British at Lexington and Concord, the founding thirteen colonies organized the Continental Army in 1775. Supplemented by local militia and led by General George Washington, it overcame grave challenges to defeat the British, a larger, more experienced, and better-funded military, with some timely help from the French at the Siege of Yorktown.

These first ‘veterans’ laid the foundation for the great American Experiment based on democratic principles of equal rights and suffrage for all, guided by our Constitution. The Constitution, along with the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights, are arguably the great documents in the history of governance, protected by generations of our veterans.

The Constitution authorized a standing Army; later augmented by the Marine Corps, immortalized by their World War II island campaign in the Pacific; the Navy, who delivered the great victory at Midway against a larger force that reversed the tide of World War II in the Pacific; and the Air Force, formed by President Truman after their critical World War II role. Other branches include the Coast Guard, founded 1915, in the run-up to World War I; and the Space Force, now responsible for outer space defense. These are the uniformed military branches we honor on Veterans Day.

There’s scarcely a family in the U.S. that doesn’t have a ‘veteran’ in their family tree. I don’t think my family is different than any other, but I once made a list of their role in World War II. It turned out that literally, every adult did something. My grandfather, an electrician, built military bases; my grandmother worked in the laundry, saving a coffee can of military badges she let me play with. My father was crippled by a childhood disease but worked at the local airbase; my mother worked there, also.

My three aunts were all “Rosie the Riveters,” working on airplanes at a local airbase. One uncle’s division trained by guarding the Orange County coast; he had fond memories of Laguna Beach for an older couple who showed him kindness. His division landed following D-Day and was at the Battle of the Bulge. Another uncle was in a parachute regiment, jumping into France the night before D-Day; after landing, he approached a French farmhouse, ready to fight, but was greeted by the wife with a welcoming hug. He won a Silver Star for courage under fire but thought it was more the adrenalin than courage. The next uncle was a bombardier-navigator in a B-25 Mitchell; he was also at the Battle of the Bulge, flying three missions on Christmas Day when the cloud cover finally lifted.

Another uncle was in the Pacific with the USMC, surviving the Battle of Okinawa (a mortar landed in his foxhole just after he had left to deliver a message). It was a time of great national unity, and everyone did what they could. We were fortunate that all returned. Many other families paid a greater price, displaying gold stars in their windows for sons or daughters lost in the war.

Do something for a serviceman or woman to observe Veterans Day. It shouldn’t be hard to find someone. There are over 1.4 million serving. There’s plenty of meaning in that.

Skip fell in love with Laguna on a ‘50s surfing trip. He’s a student of Laguna history and the author of “Loving Laguna: A Local’s Guide to Laguna Beach.” Email: [email protected].

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