One school district in Illinois has decided to take Veterans Day off the calendar of holidays for the future with the explanation that the students just don't understand the significance of the day.
School board members in District 300 have taken away a school holiday next year claiming students don’t understand the meaning behind the day.
Here are some questions for the school district. Who is responsible for teaching the children what this day means? If the students are not taking the day off, can we expect that instead the schools will tie in their teaching on this day to Veterans Day like they incorporate black heritage themes in the month of February to everything? Will any special recognition be given during the day to veterans? Or is the intent of the school district to completely wipe the observance of this day from the collective memory of their future community organizers?
They say they will honor veterans during class on that day but I remain skeptical.
A national tour featuring decorated veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan won't be stopping at Forest Lake Area High School today as planned, after school leaders abruptly canceled the visit.
Steve Massey, the school principal, said the decision to cancel was prompted by concerns that the event was becoming political rather than educational and therefore was not suitable for a public school.
Normally I'm hesitant to mention anything from Hollywood that has to do with veterans since the normal storyline out there is that somehow veterans are victims.
I don't watch soap operas since I do have a day job, so I really have no way to know how the story line is playing out or how the character is being portrayed; this is merely a post to recognize a local veteran, from Dalton, GA, who, like so many others, is showing Americans to quit being victims and get on with their lives.
Today, as the U.S. honors millions of military veterans, Martinez’s personal drama is playing out on national television. A character he plays is at the center of the soap opera “All My Children,” whose Veterans Day storyline is exposing millions of viewers to the effects of war.
Last summer, the ABC daytime drama’s executive producer decided to add weight to the soldiers’ storyline by casting a real-life vet in a recurring role. The show hired Martinez, who has toured the country as a motivational speaker.
He plays Brot Monroe, who, like Martinez, was injured in the line of duty. Currently, the ABC soap opera is telling the story of Iraq veteran Lt. Taylor Thompson (Beth Ehlers) who is grieving for Monroe, her fiance. She wrongly believes he was killed in action.
Because he was disfigured in the accident, the soldier, in grand soap opera tradition, is letting his bride-to-be believe he’s dead.
In today's environment of economic problems, a unresponsive federal government, and too many folks standing around with a tin cup waiting on big daddy government to give them something, it is always encouraging to see yet again that the members of this Greatest Generation are once again showing the way.
If only Americans would pay more attention to the stories of these veterans. Not the ones who make the headlines spinning preposterous stories of depravity and atrocities, but rather those who--while they may have been dealt some bad cards--instead of folding, they go all in.
Congratulations to Mr. Martinez and only wish the best for him in the future, and I encourage everybody today, this Veteran's Day, to take the time to ponder what this newest Greatest Generation is giving you.
Today is Veterans Day. It seems lately that every time you turn around there is another day paying tribute to our veterans of military service. In fact I think you would be hard pressed to find any other group in this country that gets so much recognition. Some of the days are not specifically set aside for veterans and the military but they have strong connections to the military community such as the Fourth of July. Are we deserving of all of the attention? In a day and time when so much scorn and contempt is heaped upon members of the military, both past and present, from everyone from Congress to the mass market media and certainly among the liberal/progressive side of the blogosphere I guess you could say it balances out. What separates the national days of commemoration from those by the critics however is the nature of that attention. The criticism is mainly directed personally while the praise is conferred upon the group. Individual praise is hard to find for those who have served or are serving, while any condemnation of any service member immediately thrusts that service members name into the spotlight. Don't believe me? Simple test. What do the names Lynddie England, Paul Smith, Charles Grainer, and Jason Dunham mean to you? If you could not answer this without looking up the names you are in that group. I am not writing this to criticize folks. I realized a long time ago that in the American culture we have a Warrior class. It is a very select group, and with the advent of the All-Volunteer Force it has become even more elite group. Most, like me, actually don't seek out the attention. Of course mine is born of a dread that if folks know my name then it probably means I am in trouble. It is not the average persons fault for that, but rather it is derived from decades of conditioning. Lt Calley's name is forever etched in the psyche of Americans but how many know Gary Gordon or Randall Shughart? Equally important is to remember how this day, Veterans Day came about. It was originally called Armistice Day declared so by President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 to commemorate the end of World War I the previous year. In 1954 Congress amended the resolution to change the name of the day to Veterans Day. At one time there was some confusion regarding which day to observe this on since in 1968 Congress included Veterans Day in a list of National Holidays designed to give Americans a 3 day weekend. This was corrected in 1975 when it was resolved that Veterans Day would be commemorated on Nov 11th, regardless of which day of the week it fell on. And now you know. So if I could ask one thing of everybody, if you know a veteran or suspect someone is a veteran or currently serving say thank you to them, personally. Not in an email, not in the comments on a blog, or not as part of a mass gathering. I retired in 1999 from the Army and in the time that has transpired since only 2 people have said that to my face. One was the young lady working the ticket booth at the Renaissance Faire near Atlanta in 2000 and the other was a coworker last year. Like I said I don't promote my veteran status so I do fly under the radar, but as you can tell I remember both cases because they were unique and touched me deeply. For the liberals/progressives who would rather insult me or my family than thank me try to restrain yourself. You do that enough during the rest of the year.
I would also like to add a reminder about the Project Valour-IT fund raiser which is now in its' last day. UPDATE: Linked by LGF. Thanks for the link.
