Veterans Day / Remembrance Day

By Regina McNamara

Canada, our family’s “second country” has not endured nearly the number of wars as ours, hence, a far smaller number of veterans. Canada honors them all during their Remembrance Day. What a lovely way to refer to the men and women who sacrificed so much for their country.

US Veterans Day was originally known as Armistice Day, (changed to Veteran’s Day in 1938) having been founded in 1919 by President Woodrow Wilson as the first commemoration of the day in which the Allied nations and Germany armistice occurred seven months before the official end of World War I. The armistice went into effect at 11:00 on 11/11/1918.

At the time he declared: The 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed.

Of course it was not the end of world conflict nor the most destructive or most sanguinary.

• In World War 1 116,516
  U.S. Service people lost their lives.
• World War 2 saw 405,399
  U.S. soldiers and millions of service people worldwide perish.
• Vietnam cost the US 58,209
  American military personnel
• Korea 54,206

We have been at war for 12 years now. We have men and women serving in at bases around the world. This war is different than previous wars. We are not fighting an enemy in uniform, officially representing a single or group of countries.

This is also a war without a draft. We have relied heavily on our National Guard and Reserve Units. These families have sacrificed much to have a father or mother – and sometimes both – deployed three or more times in the last 12 years. For those in Special Forces Units, there have been 8-11 deployments. This is a huge sacrifice to families and local communities where first responders were often also National Guard and were called up to active duty.

More than 2 million men and women deployed in the first 10 years of the Global War on Terror which began after we were attacked on 9-11-01. More than 4,500 lost their lives in battle and more than 30,000 were wounded in action. Because of the advances in battlefield medicine many lives are saved under extraordinary conditions. Men and women whose vehicles are blown up with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) survive, even with the loss of one or more limbs and serious brain injuries.

There appears to be no end to our country’s current wars.

As we honor those who gave their lives in our country’s wars, it is important to also honor those who now serve willingly and especially those who are living with severe physical and mental disabilities, often permanent ones.

To our clients, colleagues, and friends whose family members are now serving in the military or who have served in the past, our profound thanks to them along with the hope that our country will commit to providing the finest medical care to these brave men and women. ■