NOVEMBER 11, 2020 – The fighting of World War I ended on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, when the Allies and Germany put into effect an armistice. One year later, November 11, 1919, President Wilson issued a message to the nation:
“To us in America the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service…”
The day has changed over the past century. In the years after World War II and the Korean War, Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day to honor the sacrifice of all men and women who have honorably served in our nation’s military, in times of peace and in times of war.
Enjoy your Veteran’s Day – take this time to reflect, recharge, and remain connected with your family and fellow Airmen.
I am honored to serve with you. Thank you for your service, sacrifice, professionalism… and for Leading The Charge!
Veterans Day honors Soldiers from all generations
Serving in the military is hard. Hard on service members and hard on Families. During Veterans Day, these heroes who serve in the Profession of Arms are recognized for their service, and it’s something that should never be forgotten or taken for granted.
The United States has been at war for more than 19 years, and now has the largest population of young veterans since the Vietnam War.
Washington native, Sgt. Muirne Cooney, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 13th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, is in her early 20’s and has been in the Army for almost four years.
As Cooney approaches her expiration of term of service, she reflected on why she served.
“I joined initially for the college opportunities and I thought the Army could help me find a better life path,” Cooney said.
By the end of the year, Cooney will transition out of the military and move onto another chapter in her life as a veteran, and wondered if she fit the criteria.
“When I think of veterans, I don’t think of myself,” Cooney explained. “I think of people who have deployed or made other significant contributions that maybe I haven’t.”
Being a service member is something less than 1% of Americans choose to do, and Jackson, Mississippi native, 1st Sgt. Terrance Porter, HHC, 13th ESC, wholeheartedly disagreed with Cooney’s assessment.
“A veteran is someone who has worn the uniform and honorably served their country,” Porter said. “Regardless of if you deployed or not, or whether you ETS or retire. You made sacrifices the majority of Americans will never understand.”
Another younger Soldier, Lexington, South Carolina native, Spc. Tau Tufu III, HHC, 13th ESC has served for three years and also has an ETS coming up.
Serving in the military is something Tufu’s Family has done all their lives, and he was glad to add to their legacy.
“It gives me a great sense of pride being from a military Family,” Tufu said. “My dad, mom, grandparents, aunts and uncles have served. A lot are still serving today.”
As Tufu prepares to transition from the Army life, the time he spent in will always be memorable to him.
“I’ll miss the people more than anything,” Tufu said. “The people I have met along the way have made it fun and manageable. I have met a lot of great people.”
After joining after high school, Porter has been in the Army for 22 years, and is beginning preparations to retire in the next year or so.
“Once I retire, I’ll be a proud veteran,” Porter said. “Because I know I’ve given my all to the Soldiers and their Families, and that means the most to me.”
Porter, like all Soldiers, is a Soldier for life. Once he finally hangs up his uniform, he still plans on giving back.
“I’ve been doing this my whole adult life,” Porter said. “Whatever I do next, I still want to serve Soldiers in whatever aspect I can.”
On Veterans Day, people can never truly express for the contributions and sacrifices they have made throughout history, a sentiment summed up by the 33rd President of the U.S., Harry S. Truman.
“Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid,” Truman said. “They have earned our undying gratitude. America will never forget their sacrifices.”
Veterans Day Pride
History is sometimes made by conscious and brave choices of an individual. Many of those conscious and courageous choices are veterans who have served in our country. You make purposeful moves in your life to shape a legacy for the people who come after you. That is the epitome of what veterans in our country do when they raise their right hand, pledging their lives to the defense of our nation. As Americans, we honor our veterans, we honor our veterans by setting a day aside to recognize their sacrifices and service. This single day is sometimes not enough to show the appreciation that is due to the blood these men and women have shed on the battlefield.
James Massengale, a retired Technical Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, and a member of the Veteran of Foreign Wars Post 9473, finished 20 years of service as a radar maintenance airmen and a special tactics squadron member. To James, being an airman, gives him a sense of fulfillment and belonging, he said. “It gives me pride being a veteran and being able to know veterans who have put in the time and made similar sacrifices like I had to do.”
Many servicemembers find that one of the most challenging parts of serving is having to be apart from loved ones over extended periods of time. Some veterans, like Massengale, had a hard time sacrificing time away from family when on a deployment or out in the field for training. Veterans and military personnel train often to uphold readiness for war and upcoming deployments. When service members are in a cycle of constant readiness, it takes a toll on their minds when they are away from home, said Massengale. Just because a servicemember isn’t at war, doesn’t mean that they aren’t at war in their own minds.
“Being gone a year to Alaska for a deployment was difficult,” said Massengale. “It’s not like I was deployed in places like Pakistan or Iraq, it was just the leaving behind everyone and everything you loved that was truly difficult.”
Despite some hard times and sacrifices, you have people who share those experiences with you away from home. Making a home away from home is easier to deal with when serving. The people on your left and right who wear the same uniform you do will be there for you, fight and die for you if need be. Being a veteran meant more to Massengale than just pride, but it meant that he was a part of a brotherhood he said. He recalled a moment in service where he and his friends were stationed at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina where the camaraderie had meant something to him. “When I was at Shaw Air Force Base, I moved off base with 2 other guys and we had this lake where the times we had there were unimaginable,” said Massengale. “We were all broke, no one had any money, but we fished and hunted snakes, and that was probably the most fun I ever had in the military.”
Being a veteran in America’s military meant something to Massengale. He believed that it taught him how to think outside of the box, to be more resilient in a lot of complex, tough and adverse situations, to become someone honorable, he said. People thanking servicemembers and veterans for their service may mean a lot to them. “Some people who are veterans, are veterans who might not have even made it home in times of war,” said Massengale. “It’s the ultimate sacrifice they pay to keep our country and our freedoms protected from anything foreign or domestic and that’s why I believe veterans day is truly about, a celebration of the lives lost protecting this country.”