Veterans Day, 2005      
   

FROM MY HEART TO THEIRS ~
A THANK YOU TO THE AMERICAN VETERAN

Dannion Brinkley with James Nicholson, Secretary of Veterans Affairs

We often take for granted the very things
that most deserve our gratitude.
~Cynthia Ozick

Dear Friends,

On Veterans Day, and throughout the National Veteran’s Awareness Week (November 6h through the 12th), let us all show our pride and appreciation for the sacrifices made by America's 26 million living Veterans. Roughly 2.5 million of them, both male and female are on active duty, serving in 110 locations around the world. These places include the good, the bad, and the absolutely horrible among duty stations. Yet, without our veteran’s courageous service to this nation, our country may well have faced a very different future in the not so distant past. Each day they are placed in harm’s way believing with their life’s worth that they are defending and protecting our way of life ~ the American Dream. According to G.K. Chesterton, “Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.” Our nation’s heroes of the armed forces are the perennial embodiment this definition of courage. And for this, they deserve to be recognized with our gratitude.

Each year at this time I write about this subject. My wife tells me that I should not just keep repeating myself, over and over again, for fear of boring my readers. So, I promise to be more creative next year if you grant me a small favor today. But first, I would like to tell you a little more about who our veterans really are. The 26 million veterans in American comprise approximately 11% of the population. This makes them a minority in America. Members of this minority range in age from 18 to 106 years old, and they are our neighbors and friends, our sons and our daughters. And although minorities are often overlooked and under appreciated - it is this minority that keeps the majority in America free!

In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.
~José Narosky

How You Can Help

With this in mind, I would like to address two particular categories within the Veteran population. The first group is the 56,000 men and women passing from this world every thirty days. Many of these Veterans are alone, in nursing homes and Veteran’s hospitals, and the lucky few are dying at home surrounded by loved ones. Moreover, 33,000 of these veterans, passing monthly, served in the military during WWII. I do hope these staggering statistics inspire you to take the time to visit one or more of these brave men and women. Stopping by to see them is one of the greatest gifts you could give them in the final days of their lives. Ask yourself…wouldn’t you hope that someone would do the very same thing for you if you were in their place? In 27 years of volunteering at the bedside, I have seen, a thousand times, what a five minute visit can mean in the life of a veteran who has experienced far too many painful and empty days all alone.

There are many organizations that could use your help in adding to the quality of life for our Veterans and their families. I would like to talk about two of these organizations. The Veterans of Foreign Wars (www.vfw.org ) has been serving the needs of the Veteran for over one hundred years. Under the MAPS program of the VFW there is special project called, Unmet Needs. 


This program helps the families of active duty service personnel deal with common everyday household dilemmas such as a dripping faucet, broken stove or leaking gas pipe. 

Since personally I am no handyman (I can’t even change a stupid light bulb) I truly understand the value of this program. If you are interested in helping out this project in any way, please call 816-756-3390. And tell them Dannion sent you!

The Ladies Auxiliary of the VFW (www.ladiesauxvfw.com) is a tremendous organization of exquisitely beautiful and caring veterans and veteran’s wives who are dedicated to supporting the needs of all active, discharged and retired veterans of a foreign conflict. In conversations with the leaders of this organization I have learned so much about the desperate feelings of loneliness, isolation and separation being experienced by our active duty personnel in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Bosnia.

In order to share a small touch of holiday spirit with our veterans, we have decided to ask everyone we know to send their choice of a new box of Christmas, Hanukah or Kwanza cards to the Ladies Auxiliary. They in turn will distribute the cards to the troops around the world. The troops will then be able to sign and mail out the holiday cards to friends and loved ones back home. Please help us to make this project a success! And ask others in your workplace, church, school, and organization to do the same. It is of the utmost importance that we do this today. Your generous donations of boxes of holiday greeting cards should be mailed to:

CHRISTMAS SURPRISE
C/o The Ladies Auxiliary VFW
406 W 34th Street
Kansas City, MO 64111


In closing, here’s a brief history (courtesy of Military.com) of the day we have come to know as Veteran’s Day:
November 11, or what has come to be known as Veterans Day, was originally set as a U.S. legal holiday to honor Armistice Day -- the end of World War I, which officially took place on November 11, 1918. In legislature that was passed in 1938, November 11 was "dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as 'Armistice Day.'" As such, this new legal holiday honored World War I veterans.

In 1954, after having been through both World War II and the Korean War, the 83rd U.S. Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting the word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation on June 1, 1954, November 11 became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

In 1968, the Uniforms Holiday Bill insured three-day weekends for Federal employees by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day. Under this bill, Veterans Day was moved to the last Monday of October. Many states did not agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holiday on its original date. The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with much confusion on October 25, 1971.

Finally on September 20, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed a law which returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of November 11, beginning in 1978. Since then, the Veterans Day holiday has been observed on November 11.

Freedom is never free. 
~Author Unknown

Semper Fi,

Dannion