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| The Korean Monument in Evansville, Indiana |
Let us salute all Veterans who have served our
country. They have been our protectors,
our strength, and our shield.
Most of us go about our daily lives without a thought of the
sacrifices that were made for our freedom and happiness. How different our lives would be if those
soldiers hadn’t been there. Today, November 11th, give those veterans you know a small acknowledgement
of your gratitude – a handshake, a phone call, or card.
Every soldier has a different perspective on war. Evansville
veteran Randy Muston of 173rd Airborne Brigade was in the Vietnam
War and shared his experiences.
“173rd was an airborne unit-- airborne units go
into combat by parachute, other units go in by ship or land by plane. In Vietnam I was lucky I didn’t have to
parachute out, I was able to land by plane, but the parachute was there if I
needed it.”
Randy was very serious as he explained, “An airborne unit is
the only military combat unit that is automatically surrounded. An airborne unit’s job is to fight their way
out of it. When there were troops in
Vietnam that were in trouble—the 173rd was thrown in to assist
them. They were all over the place.”
The soldiers of Vietnam are heroes, but when they returned
home weren’t always welcomed. Randy
Muston remembers this: “I’m still very ticked off at the way the people of this
country treated the Vietnam veterans because veterans give them the freedoms
they have.”
Captain Marissa Mitchell of the United States Army has been
to both Afghanistan and Iraq and is on “inactive ready reserve”, which means
she could be called up again. When
deployed, her unit took a lot of indirect fire, and there was little she could
do to protect herself. For example, her
unit’s gym, which she used regularly, was hit by the enemy one day. And while traveling, she knew the Taliban
would target her seat in the vehicle because of her rank.
Like many other soldiers, Marissa’s transition back to
civilian life has been hampered by PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). PTSD is an anxiety disorder that interferes
with normal activities and it affects everyone differently. PTSD causes some to relive a stressful event,
others to become emotionally detached, and others to have exaggerated responses
to normal events. Marissa thinks a
strong support network at home is critical to deal with PTSD.
Armistice Day was established in 1919 by President Woodrow
Wilson after WWI. In 1954, Congress
renamed it to Veterans Day in 1954 as a day to recognize veterans of all
wars. President Wilson said “…. the
reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of
those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory,
both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity
it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the
councils of the nations."
Soldiers both past and present have been called. They have gone. Because of their courage and sacrifice we
have a good life. Veterans Day is today Nov. 11th
– let’s show our thanks!
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