What we really should be talking about on Veterans' Day

Today, November 11, 2019, has been Veterans' Day. In some places it is Remembrance Day. This is a link to a post about why people began wearing poppies on this day to show remembrance.
 I love the poem On Flanders Field, and this explains where that poem came from.

https://blog.billiongraves.com/remembrance-day-lest-we-forget/

While everyone is thanking our veterans of all the wars we have fought through history, I wonder if anyone will think to contact their congressman about the large cut in funding for military families' housing? I have heard some outlandish stories in recent months about the housing some of the young families with children have to endure while the father is overseas in the United States Military.

With the exorbitant budget given to our military department, why on earth would they cut funding for housing to the men and women who are in the Middle East risking their lives every single day? I think that should have been the headlines for today. What do you think?

I grew up across the road from the largest Marine Corp Supply Base east of the Mississippi. I heard too much about the waste that went on there every day. I heard about employees who came to work drunk day after day and were never fired. What kind of job does one do when he is drunk? With so much waste, maybe some of the funds could go to help families with housing costs?

I heard from Stu Moring about what he and other vets experienced when they returned from Vietnam. Shameful that we never properly made them know how much we care about them and how much we appreciate their putting their lives at risk. No matter whether we liked or hated the war, the men who were there in that horrible place, deserve our respect and our love.


Here are pictures of some friends and family who are veterans:

Charlie, my brother-in-law, WWII Vet

My great grandfather, John Cecil Council, veteran of the War Between the States

My brother, Ray, WWII vet

My brother in law, Stu Moring, a Vietnam Vet

My dear friend, Ash Rothlein, a veteran of WWII, age 95 now.

                              My husband, Hugh Barry Beall, served in the US Army 

as a German Linguist. 

He also served in Korea. 

Veterans, War and Women in High Places

A special friend is veteran, Ash Rothlein, who served in World War II. His mission to honor those who died in that war, is moving along swiftly. I hope to join him and many others at the memorial service in June of 2014 for the 75th anniversary of D-Day. For five years Ash has devoted all his time to a mission that has evolved into far more than he had expected with cooperation from leaders of military organizations, government and other veterans. Nearing 90 years old, Ash has a soaring spirit and a big heart that overflows with love and gratitude for those who lost their lives so that we can all be free.

Veterans Day, which we observed recently, brings to mind those I know and those I love who served our country in war time.

One of my uncles served in World War I. Many of my cousins served in the army and navy during WWII. My brother, Ray Council, and brother-in-law, Stan Hunter also served. Cousins I never met were killed during that war. I observed the never-ending grief of their parents. 

Both my husband and my sister's husband served in the military during wartime. In our world, war is constant. In some land at this moment, men, women and children are being murdered, hacked to death, blown to pieces and being tortured for no reason. Most of them are caught in a battle not of their making.

As the holidays approach my heart aches for those who have lost young loved ones in the horror of war. Those young men and women will not have the life their mothers dreamed for them. I'll never forget seeing my parents' tears when my brother left home to serve in the military. I am forever grateful that he survived his military years.

I believe if we had more women in government, not only in this country, but in other countries around the globe, there would be more use of diplomacy instead of arms to settle disputes.

Former US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, believes that more female leaders included with the men who make major decisions affect the outcomes in very positive ways.
See her talk  at TEDtalks.com.

Veteran's Day Story in Clay County Progress

Once again I am proud of one of my students, Ash Rothlein, who wrote an essay that will be published this week in our local newspaper, The Clay County Progress. Ash served in WW II and has begun (in his mid-eighties) to write his memories This story is most fitting for Veterans Day.

While he never hesitates to shower me with appreciation for his beginning to write, I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to know Ash. A gentleman, the like seldom seen in today's world, he shepherds his classmates to meetings held about every three months, as they share new memories. Unlike some war veteran who never want to speak of the war, Ash decided to tell of  his recollections in touching and sometimes humourous stories.

We learned more about the kind of man our friend was in his youth, and our eyes filled with tears when he took us back to a battle field in Europe and the sentiments he continues to feel about that day.

If  you live in the Hayesville, NC area, pick up the Progress and read Ash's story. And if you have memories you have been meaning to share, get out the paper and pen or get to your keyboard. Don't wait another day. No more excuses. Write now.