John N. Baldwin

A TRIBUTE TO THE VETERAN

Twain Harte Memorial Day, Dr. John N. Baldwin
(Read under the arch to celebrate the new Flag)

We are gathered here on this Memorial Day, 2005, to honor those men and women, who, through the 229 years of our republic, have served our nation. This national holiday began in 1868 and was originally called “decoration day” a time to place flowers on the thousands of graves of those killed in the just-completed civil war. Today, an automobile race, baseball games, BBQ picnics, and time out of school have dulled the greater purpose, yet they stand as tributes to our freedom.

So it is that we pause in our busy schedules to remember, especially, those who gave the ultimate sacrifice and those, who, as we stand in the gorgeous sunshine of a peaceful sierra day, serve in distant lands, directly in harm’s way.

In Lincoln’s words “we are now engaged in a great war, testing whether this nation or any nation, so dedicated, can long endure.” In today’s war, against terrorism, radical Islam and on the ground, in Iraq, another generation of veterans is being born.

Many in our nation have grave reservations about this conflict; however, you should know that at the onset of the American revolutionary war, barely half of our young nation supported independence from England. Similar splits were seen for the civil war, Korea and Vietnam. Historians are correct when they say that it takes twenty years to determine whether or not a war was “worth it.”

Nevertheless, soldiers serve. 16 million of “the greatest generation” in world war two, and sadly, they are now dying at a rate of 2,000 a day. Eight million served during the 17 years of the Vietnam War.

Those men and women who answered the call of their nation to arms should be held in honor. They went. Never again should a nation spit on returning veterans while calling them “baby killers” as we who served in Vietnam will never forget. Instead, may this day be filled with special thoughts of gratitude for those who left family, home and in many cases, this world because their nation called, and they responded.

I enjoy this thought that most of you have seen before:

It was the soldier, not the reporter who gave us freedom of the press.
It was the soldier, not the poet, who gave us freedom of speech.
It was the soldier, not the demonstrator, who gave us the freedom to disagree.
It was the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath that flag and whose coffin is draped by that flag; and it was the soldier who has given the protestor the freedom to burn that flag.

The next time you see a uniformed serviceman or woman on the street or in an airport, give them your smile and say “good luck, thank you and welcome home.”

Thank you all and God bless America