Veterans Day focuses on remembering those who gave

Staff Writer

rseaborn@pickenssentinel

PICKENS - While Americans should be grateful daily to those who have fought for freedom and to the men and women serving their county today, the nation has set aside a single day, Veterans Day, to honor its military heroes

Tom Harris, American Legion state director of membership, said that a simple 'thank you' to veterans seems so small for such sacrifices, but the words are important to every veteran hearing them.

Sponsored by American Legion Post 11 members, Hillcrest Memorial Park hosted the gathering of local veterans, as well as those who recognize the significance of remembering the soldiers who fought for the United States of America, with many returning to their country seriously wounded or in a casket.

A simple "thank you" to those living veterans, and a moment of remembrance for the dead seems easy enough, Harris told the group gathered in the cemetary's chapel.

"We say thank you when a store clerk hands us change," he said. "We wave thank you when a motorist yields us the right-of-way.

"We thank our friends when they pay us compliments and if you think about it, we probably use the words "thank you," or some variation of it, at least a dozen times a day," Harris said. "But how do you thank someone for saving the world?"

War, while seemingly appalling, is necessary, he said.

"Let us not forget that wars have liberated slaves, stopped genocides and toppled terrorists," he said. "It has been said that without our veterans, Americans would be speaking Russian, German, or perhaps Japanese."

Harris said it is because of the many sacrifices made by veterans that America is the great nation it is today.

"But regardless of which view of alternative history you take, we do know that without our veterans, American would not be America," Harris said. "When you ask young men and women to endure great hardships, drastically change their lifestyles and possibly give their lives for you, the words "thank you" seems woefully insufficient."

Phil Cournoyer, American Legion Commander of District 6, said that the husbands and wives of soldiers also play an important role in protecting the santity of the nation.

"My wife was a military wife for 14 years of my 20-year military in the United States Navy," Cournoyer said. "During that time, there were many times my service to our country kept us apart."

Families of soldiers are often left behind to manage a home and raise children alone, all the while thinking about the safety of a spouse fighting a war on foreign soil, he said.

"But my wife, like all other military wives, understood that when duty called he must go," Cournoyer said.

The names of over 400 veterans who had died over recent years were recited, after which the list was placed in a cauldron, ignited, and burned.

"As the smoke from these names drift toward Heaven, so does our thoughts and prayers," Cournoyer said.

Support of American veterans is the best way to extend gratitude, Harris said.

Giving a donation to a veteran selling poppies will render aid to those veterans in hospital beds, and encouraging elected officials to refrain from cutting funding to those programs focused on veterans are ways to say "thanks," he said.

Lending a hand to a family whose husband or wife is away from home today because of military duty is an excellent display of gratitude, Harris said.

"Help the busy mother of two with her yard work, while her husband is fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan," he said.

Doug Finney, Commander of American Legion Post 11, said that service to our country doesn't begin nor end on the battlefield.

"May we who served our country in times of war be its servants in times of peace," Finney said.