Send the word, send the word over there
That the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming
The drums rum-tumming everywhere.
So prepare, say a prayer,
Send the word, send the word to beware -
We'll be over, we're coming over,
And we won't come back till it's over, over there.
In World War I thousands of U.S. “Doughboys†crossed the sea and fought in the trenches, on the sea and in the air of Europe. Singing songs like “Over There†and chanting “Lafayette we are here!†they disembarked from the troop transports that brought them to France and helped end the bloody stalemate that the war had become. Thanks to the Doughboys World War I ended on eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918. That day became known as Armistice Day in the United States and yearly people celebrated the end of what was called The War to End All Wars.
To this day the only surviving World War I veteran, 109 year old Frank Buckles, the last of the nearly 5 million men who served in World War I, still lobbies the U.S. Congress for a national World War I memorial to be built in Washington D.C.
Barely twenty years later World War II erupted and again the whole world went to war. This time thousands of U.S. “G.I.s†crossed the oceans of the world and fought a war on two fronts to stop the dictatorial oppression that threatened to engulf the people on all continents. Thanks to the G.I.s victory in Europe was achieved on May 8, 1945 followed shortly thereafter by victory in the Pacific on August 14, 1945. In 1954 Armistice Day became Veterans Day to remember all the veterans who fought in both of the World Wars and those who fought in the previous wars the U.S. had entered.
Today around two millions of the over sixteen million who served in World War II survive. It is estimated that 850 of them die each day as the estimated median age for World War II veterans is 86 years old. Many will die alone, their deeds forgotten and their heroism unacknowledged.
Since World War II millions of U.S. troops have answered the call and gone over the oceans to fight for the U.S. in places such as Korea, Viet Nam, Beirut, Lybia, Bosnia, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq and countless other places we may never know about. Most of those soldiers probably did not even know such places existed before they were deployed there, and yet they went without question and did the job. Their efforts have helped bring peace and stability, not only to places where “peace†and “stability†are alien words, but to our own country and the world at large. Some of them are home, and some of them are still out there on the front lines standing tall and strong and defending the U.S. from those who would see it destroyed.
Today millions of those troops struggle daily to deal with the horrors of war. From post traumatic stress disorder to cancer brought on by exposure to Agent Orange to Gulf War Syndrome to limbs lost to I.E.D.s these veterans bear the scars of war and daily have to ask for help that should be theirs by right and without question.
Because of the efforts of these soldiers, from the Dough Boys, to the G.I.s to those that stand on guard this very instant in the world today the sight of troops bearing the Red, White and Blue of Old Glory on their right shoulder is a powerful symbol that the forces of justice and peace have arrived to set things to rights. Because of their efforts and vigilance billions of people, not just in this country but the world over, sleep secure in their beds. And for that all they ask in return is that on this one day you remember them; those that fought in places most had never even heard of, so that the United States of America could survive and thrive in peace and security.
On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in many places around the world people observe two minutes of silence in remembrance of the twenty million people who lost their lives in World War I. At some point today take that much time to remember the millions that served the United States of America, saw it safely through dark times and passed it on to us today.
In Flanders Fields
by
Lt. Col. John McRea
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
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Those who are tardy do not get fruitcup.
