By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Open your hearts and open your arms to the veterans who have returned home from the war, because they fought for your freedom.
That was the message delivered by Joseph Kotch, a Vietnam War veteran and the guest speaker at Montgomery Township’s annual Veterans Day observance in Montgomery Veterans Park Nov. 11.
Kotch, who belongs to Rolling Thunder, Inc. – an advocacy group for servicemen who are prisoners of war or missing in action – said no military service member should be left behind, either as a prisoner of war or missing in action.
Rolling Thunder is committed to helping veterans of all wars, said Kotch, who served for eight years in the U.S. Navy. Many veterans suffer from post traumatic stress syndrome, he said.
Many veterans go through their own version of hell and their own private wars, Kotch said. They come home after serving their country and try to fit into society, which is why Americans must open their hearts and their arms to the veterans who are in transition, he said.
“They fought for your freedom. Remember that,” Kotch said.
Veterans Day has its origins in Armistice Day, when the guns stopped firing at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, ending World War I. The holiday was created in 1919 on the first anniversary of the cease-fire, and became a national holiday in 1938. Its name was changed from Armistice Day to Veterans Day in 1954.
U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-7th Congressional District), said President Woodrow Wilson believed that World War I – also known as the Great War – would be the war to end all wars. But sadly, that did not come true, Lance said.
World War II, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam War and lately, the Middle East conflicts, have followed on the heels of World War I – even as each generation hopes that it will be the last one to fight a war, Lance said.
“But that is not to be,” Lance said. “We pray that all (service members) will come home safely. Memorial Day is a day to honor the war dead. Today, we honor all veterans and pay tribute to them for their service.”
Montgomery Township Administrator Donato Nieman reminded the attendees that fewer than 1 percent of American citizens today serve in the U.S. military. Out of more than 300 million Americans, only 2.7 million citizens have volunteered to serve in the military.
Nieman said his father and his two uncles – one of whom was killed in action – served in the U.S. military during World War II. He said that his generation is the last one that expected to serve for two years in the military.
That point was acknowledged by Somerset County Votech student Julia Garaffa, who said that for her generation, “it is often too easy to let war become a foreign concept. In my lifetime, there has been no active (military) draft or battle fought on American soil, and most of us were only in diapers when the tragedy of 9/11 occurred.”
The luxury of being able to forget about war – something that happens in another country and that happens to someone else – has come at a cost that has been paid for by veterans and active duty service members alike, Garaffa said.
“For these brave men and women, war is not a far-off concept, but a reality they must face. They carry the burden so that we do not have to,” said Garaffa, who is a Gold Award Girl Scout (equivalent to the Boy Scouts’ Eagle Scout rank).
“On this Veterans Day and every day, when you wake up safe and alive in a country where you have the freedom to choose, remember the men and women who have made this possible,” Garaffa said.
After the last speaker offered remarks, a bugler played “TAPS”- punctuated by the “boom” of an authentic Civil War cannon fired off by the re-enactors of the 6th New York Independent Battery, which was invited to take part in the Veterans Day celebration.
The Civil War re-enactors, along with a President Abraham Lincoln impersonator and World War II re-enactors – complete with a World War II-era medical tent and period medical instruments – sought to bring Veterans Day to life.
The Civil War cannon, which was cast by a foundry in Boston, Mass., in 1863, proved to be popular. The Union Army re-enactors fired it off several times, much to the delight of the handful of spectators who stayed after the Veterans Day ceremony ended.