In honor of our military veterans, please allow this walk down memory lane.
My first job out of college was as a Reagan appointee to the Veterans Administration, where one of my tasks entailed speechwriting. Going through files last weekend, I found the speech I wrote for all the local heads of VA facilities across the country to give on Veterans Day, 1986. Here are some excerpts:
Today, we honor those who exhibited, in the words of the great poet Tennyson, “some sense of duty, something of a faith, some reverence for the laws ourselves have made […] some civic manhood firm against the crowd.”
Yes, today, we honor America’s veterans of military service. … Our veterans have made contributions absolutely crucial to the well-being of everyone fortunate enough to be an American. …
An army and a navy are nothing without good men and women to give them flesh and spirit. The veterans we recognize today have served to safeguard our country and its constitutional freedoms throughout the world. The freedom of people to elect their own governments. The freedom to voice political opinions without fear of reprisal. The freedom to worship in whatever way one chooses.
Our men and women in uniform have dedicated themselves to protecting and strengthening these freedoms — the ideals of our republic and of free men everywhere — throughout the world. Among our living veterans are those who manned the trenches in World War I, protecting Paris and our democratic ideals. There are those who stormed the beaches of Normandy, pushing back the Nazi death machine. And those who freed the Philippines with MacArthur. From Inchon, in Korea, through the rice paddies of Vietnam, to the liberation of Grenada, our veterans have answered freedom’s call to duty, to service, and to sacrifice.
Today, we recognize their valor. Today, we rejoice in the blessings of liberty their bravery has secured for us.
President Theodore Roosevelt once said that “the first requisite of a good citizen in the republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his weight.” Our veterans, in Teddy Roosevelt’s terms, are good citizens several times over. … [Statistics show that] veterans become our finest citizens, our hardest and most effective workers, our most sincere patriots. They know, and constantly demonstrate, the value of teamwork, responsibility, discipline, fitness, and loyalty.
And, because many have faced the ultimate pressure of threats to their very lives, they handle daily pressures with perspective and experience. In short, they make great leaders, efficient and skilled workers, and loyal followers. …
But there are veterans who, despite hard work, are unable to fully participate in these accomplishments. Many were disabled in the course of their patriotic service. Many are old, retired, and living on fixed incomes. Some are still finding their way back into life’s mainstream. They are proud Americans, not accustomed to handouts, but who vitally need the entitlements provided them by a grateful nation.
Teddy Roosevelt said something else that clearly expresses America’s belief in its veterans: “A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterward.” This is where the Veterans Administration comes in. …
Although VA’s service to veterans has had an overwhelmingly positive impact on our society, this agency cannot rest on its laurels. In some areas, such as meeting the healthcare needs of the aged, we face a greater challenge than ever before. The VA must ensure that no veteran’s disability — whether due to military service, age, or circumstance — should prohibit a full and fruitful life. The VA must continue to blaze a trail in rehabilitation research, in healthcare, and in other services for those brave men and women who served America so well. …
[Therefore,] let all Americans renew the pledge … for those who responded to their country’s call. As Thomas Paine so eloquently said, “The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will […] shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”
Today, we express that love and thanks. God bless our veterans, and God bless America.
