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Veterans Day honors survivors
of combat, not fallen soldiers
By
Angeline Olschewski
November 16, 2007 | Veterans Day is not a day to honor
the dead. Memorial Day is not a day to honor the living.
There are many who do not understand or know this
distinction. These days are not interchangeable and
could not be merged into one to save us the frustration
of a second bank holiday. They are not meant to celebrate
the same people.
On the front page of Wednesday's edition of The Utah
Statesman, an article ran covering the events of Monday's
veterans' memorial services. In the article, USU Athletic
Director Randy Spetman urged those in attendance "to
not forget fallen soldiers." He listed several events
that should be remembered including Pearl Harbor and
those who will forever rest in the Arizona, and 9/11.
No disrespect to Spetman, but specific days honor
those events and sacrifices. Memorial Day, originally
named Decoration Day, is meant to honor the fallen;
Patriots Day is set aside to reverence the losses of
9/11. Spetman does today's veterans a disservice by
clumping these groups, inevitably overshadowing the
living vets.
Society has begun to fuse Veterans Day and Memorial
Day into the same kind of day of remembrance. This is
not appropriate and diminishes the service performed
by veterans who were lucky enough to survive and return
home. The same disservice is rendered to those fallen
soldiers when we recognize and celebrate living veterans
on Memorial Day.
Nov. 11 is not a day chosen at random. The fighting
of World War I ceased at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918, the
eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
Though the war would not officially be over until the
signing of the Treaty of Versailles in June the next
year, many vets considered "armistice day" the end of
the war.
President Wilson named Nov. 11 as Armistice Day, and
years later it was declared a national holiday. As we
survived more wars, the name was changed to Veterans
Day to broaden those it honored.
When the government passed legislation known as the
Uniform Monday Holiday Bill in 1968, shifting the celebration
of national holidays to Mondays which would offer federal
employees a long weekend, veterans rose up and demanded
it be returned to its original date. To these men, it
is not just another bank holiday.
My father is a Vietnam veteran, and my younger brother
is a veteran of the War on Terror. Nov. 11 is the annual
day to express gratitude for their service and their
lives that continue after they fight; the lives that
pour man-hours and dollars into the economy; the lives
that move forward families, new generations of patriots
and soldiers
I asked a few people the difference between the holidays
and some older folks knew the right answer. It seemed
to me that it was a generational knowledge gap. Society
changed its attitudes toward war changed during the
Vietnam conflict. There were no ticker tape parades
when my father returned home; instead soldiers in uniform
were spat upon. It is easy to see how a day set aside
to honor the living vets evolved into another day to
remember the fallen.
It is time to return to the original purpose of this
holiday. According to the Veterans' Affairs Web site,
the day is "A celebration to honor America's veterans
for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness
to serve and sacrifice for the common good."
My father and my brother deserve more than a free
buffet at Golden Corral, though I thank the restaurant
for acknowledging the sacrifices of soldiers. These
men deserve our respect. Whether or not we agree with
these wars, and whether or not we support our military,
these men stood up when their country called, placed
themselves in the line of fire, and we should be proud
of them. I am.
Save your 14-gun salute for May. This week let's celebrate
soldiers who served, returned home and made a difference,
made a life. These are the men I honor today.
Now if only we could figure out how to get veterans
the day off instead of just postal and bank employees.
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