On November 11, 1918 at the 11th hour the guns on the Western front fell silent, ending the horror of what was known as World War 1. This year will celebrate the 90th year since those guns fell silent. Today there is one remaining American WW1 veteran still alive, Mr. Frank Buckles who is 107 years old. All of our Schuylkill County Veterans have passed many years ago. Veterans Day is not a day to celebrate war, but is a day to celebrate the peace we as Americans have lived with for many years, because of those who fought for it and died for it. I want to take this time as a veteran to thank all those men and women from Schuylkill County and our great country who have served in time of peace and war.
What is a veteran? Sometimes I think people put aside the true meaning of this word. Veterans are that special unique group of men and women who for many reasons have worn the uniform of the United States in time of peace and war. A band of brothers and sisters inseparable from the common citizen, those special people who have taken the stand between freedom and tyranny. Americans who have taken up the sword of justice in the defense of those liberties we hold to be so dear. Americans who put country first above all agendas.
In this day and age I sometimes fear that these liberties we hold so dear are short changed by the elected politicians we have placed in office. I fear that they will take for granted all the men and women who have served and sacrificed for our country for their own political agenda. These politicians who believe in a faceless dream of a world that doesn’t hate America and a world where we should give ground on our beliefs so that we will have a better imagine in the world. I asked these officials, even if you didn’t take the time to serve in uniform and know the cost of freedom to please stop and take the time to remember what this country is about, and take a look at the millions who are living today and have served this great country and those who have sacrificed everything for it. If only we could get them to read what those men who came before us held high, and see the passion to live out a dream that became this great country of ours. Please I beg, do not throw it a way for a faceless global image.
The great American Samuel Adams wrote in 1771 "The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men... It is a very serious consideration, which should deeply impress our minds, that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers in the event." I please ask these people to adhere to these principles.
It is well known that on this day we honor the living veterans who served honorably in the military, in wartime and peace. On Memorial Day we honor those who have sacrificed all for our country. So on this Veterans Day let us say; For those men and women who have served and returned home alive, we honor you, for you are the ones who left your home and your loved ones and have traveled to foreign lands, have taken up arms and fought many battles on behalf of the American people. We honor you who went and didn’t ask why our country called you served with pride and dignity you’re imagine is what needs to be held in high esteem. And to our men and women today, who are far from country and family and friend defending us against an enemy who hates our very way of life, we salute you, we honor you, we thank you for the freedom we so much enjoy. We salute you for putting country ahead of self. When you finally return home your lives will forever be changed, and we Veterans will welcome you into a fraternity of brother hood and sister hood that shines above all fraternities, those who have put their lives ahead of others to serve this great country. Remember, Veterans, “For those who fought for it, Freedom has a taste the protected will never know.” Thank You Veterans.
Stu Richards
Vietnam Veteran
Orwigsburg, Pa. 17961
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