DEAR EDITOR:
Many days are reserved yearlong to recognize our veterans. March brings many of them.
March 3, Happy Birthday to the Navy Reserve, founded in 1915 in response to World War I. Included in the Reserve’s ranks are five future presidents and 15 Medal of Honor recipients. Any given day, 25 percent of the Reserve is taking part to deliver global operational support to Navy fleet and other combat forces. Since Sept. 11, 2001, 70,000 Reservists have been deployed. Today over 100,000 Reservists are on call to amplify the Navy’s capabilities to include forward presence, deterrence, sea control, maritime security, humanitarian assistance and disaster response. We thank Navy Reservists for their service!
March 15 was celebrated by the American Legion, its 103rd birthday. Happy Birthday Legionnaires worldwide! The Legion was chartered by Congress in 1910 as a patriotic veteran organization devoted to mutual helpfulness. Membership quickly grew to over 1 million, and local posts sprang up nationwide. Today, worldwide membership exceeds 42 million. The Legion has been instrumental in social change in America and helped veterans receive benefits, sponsors programs for youth and communities. The Legion voiced concern in 1966 for the fate of POWs in Vietnam. It, along with other veterans organizations, continues to urge for a full accounting of all POWs and troops missing in action.
The Legion also works for veterans, veterans’ issues and families on improving funding at veterans hospitals and creating the national campaign, “I am not a number,” to identify and document delays veterans face in obtaining VA medical care.
Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day will be celebrated March 29 or March 30, depending on the state. It marks the final withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam and commemorates sacrifices of Vietnam veterans and their families in a national effort to recognize the men and women denied proper welcomes when they first returned. President Nixon proclaimed, “…to all who had worn the uniform of the United States the respect and dignity they deserve and to honor their sacrifices by serving them as well as they served us …”
National Day of Honor was proclaimed by President Obama on March 19, 2012, to commemorate return of U.S. Armed Forces from Iraq. While U.S. service members crossed the sand from Kuwait to Iraq, they began one of the most challenging missions our military ever has known. They fought to help Iraqi people have a better future.
The Lake Milton American Legion Auxiliary Unit 737 thanks all our veterans for serving. We remain committed to serving veterans and their families, as they have served our country.
KAREN SHESKO
American Legion Auxiliary Lake Unit 737
Lake Milton