Veterans Day 2010
We celebrate Veterans Day on the anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I, the armistice that began on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
We are all here and free today because of whenever freedom has been threatened, gallant men and women have answered the call of their country for the last 234 years. From all branches of the Armed Services they risked and often gave their lives for this Nation leaving a lasting legacy for our country to honor.
As a veteran of the Armed Forces and a citizen of still yet the greatest nation on earth, I'm proud of my country and thankful for opportunities our current military members and our veterans have secured for its people. It is up to us, to responsibly exercise and protect the rights and freedoms that have been defended over numerous generation's.
As a UAW Veteran, I'm so proud of those union members who were veterans from the Vietnam and Korean wars, who had the insight and determination to establish our UAW Veterans Affairs Dept. Over the years we have had great and inspiring leaders who insured the Dept. grew and prospered. I'm thankful for the opportunities the UAW has given me as a veteran and as a union member. I humbly feel I'm fortunate to be involved in a organization that across the nation is involved in helping veterans, from wounded warriors, to the VFW National Home for Children, from homeless veterans to volunteering at our VA and state veterans medical centers. From war monuments to our veterans cemeteries, the UAW Veterans are there to educate, promote, preserve and remind others of the selfless-service and sacrifice's of by our nation's greatest citizens, her military and her veterans.
Ninety-two years ago on November 11, 1918 the battlefields of Europe fell quiet as World War I came to a close. But we don't mark this day each year as a celebration of victory, as proud of that victory as we are. We mark this day as a celebration of those who made victory possible. It's a day we keep in our minds the brave men and women of this nation -- generations of them -- who above all else believed in and fought for a set of ideals. Because they did, our country still stands; our founding principles still shine; nations around the world that once knew nothing but fear now know the blessings of freedom.
As Eleanor Roosevelt so eloquently said, " Lest I keep my complacent way I must remember someone out there a person died for me today. As long as there must be war, I ask and I must answer, Was I worth dying for."
HAPPY VETERANS DAY
Mark Peterson
UAW local 2069, Dublin Va.
Region 8 Veterans Council Chairman
Region 8 NVAC member |
