Veterans Day - 2021
Today is not just for those who died while serving. That is Memorial Day.
Today is not just for those currently serving. That is Armed Forces Day.
Today is for recognizing everyone who ever served in our nation's military. Data from the U.S. Census that dates back to 2018 estimated that to be about 18 million Americans. Including my friend Roberto who is coming up on 20 years of service in the U.S. Army.
It includes TSgt Leonard Matlovich who was discharged from the U.S. Air Force in 1975 solely because he was gay. His tombstone is worth a view:
It includes then Colonel, later on Major General William A. Gorton, who was commander of the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing, the first unit I was ever assigned to after completing basic military training and then technical training. He solved a major problem by just having a sign built. You can read his story here if you are curious.
* * *
Much is being made of the fact that the 50 or so homeless veterans who were living in tents just outside the West L.A. VA Campus on San Vicente are no longer there. They are either in permanent housing, or in a tent city inside the VA fences with more services available to them. The problem is that this is a nice start but does not address the over 3,900 veterans who remain without a home within Los Angeles. What is being done to address their needs? An op-ed in today's L.A. Times explores this question a bit. What it does not address is why the VA has not reclaimed large swaths of the land on its campus being used for UCLA's baseball stadium and by the Brentwood School.
* * *
We are a nation whose image of military service, warfare and so on are shaped as much by motion pictures and television as they are by the media's reporting on war. For most people, mention the name General George S. Patton and this is what comes to mind:
In fact, George Patton represented the U.S. in the 1912 Olympics in the Modern Pentathlon. He finished fifth. He was twice decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross, the 2nd highest award this nation has for extraordinary heroism in combat with an enemy force.
The Air Force Cross is the equivalent of this award for Air Force and Space Force personnel. Its first recipient was Air Force Major Rudolf Anderson, the only combat fatality of the Cuban Missile Crisis. His U-2 reconnaissance plane was shot down over Cuba.
Not quite five years later, the movie The Dirty Dozen was released. Its stars included Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Ralph Meeker, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas and more who served in our nation's military. Marvin criticized the film in that he felt it did not portray what really took place during a war. He was much happier with the portrayal of war in 1980's The Big Red One.
Charles Durning was nominated for a Primetime Emmy award for his guest performance in a 2004 episode of NCIS. Hw portrayed a Marine who had been awarded the Medal of Honor on Iwo Jimo during World War II. What most (including me) did not know when watching that episode was that Durning was part of the force that landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day. He earned a Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts during his military service.
* * *
Some of our fallen never came home. September 2, 1958. An EC-130 flying a reconnaissance mission along the border between Turkey and Armenia entered Russian airspace and was shot down. The 11 intelligence gathering crewmembers aboard were never acknowledged by the Soviet Union and their bodies never returned. I am grateful to my fellow veterans. Truly they are the watchmen on the walls of world freedom.
Today is not just for those currently serving. That is Armed Forces Day.
Today is for recognizing everyone who ever served in our nation's military. Data from the U.S. Census that dates back to 2018 estimated that to be about 18 million Americans. Including my friend Roberto who is coming up on 20 years of service in the U.S. Army.
It includes TSgt Leonard Matlovich who was discharged from the U.S. Air Force in 1975 solely because he was gay. His tombstone is worth a view:
It includes then Colonel, later on Major General William A. Gorton, who was commander of the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing, the first unit I was ever assigned to after completing basic military training and then technical training. He solved a major problem by just having a sign built. You can read his story here if you are curious.
* * *
Much is being made of the fact that the 50 or so homeless veterans who were living in tents just outside the West L.A. VA Campus on San Vicente are no longer there. They are either in permanent housing, or in a tent city inside the VA fences with more services available to them. The problem is that this is a nice start but does not address the over 3,900 veterans who remain without a home within Los Angeles. What is being done to address their needs? An op-ed in today's L.A. Times explores this question a bit. What it does not address is why the VA has not reclaimed large swaths of the land on its campus being used for UCLA's baseball stadium and by the Brentwood School.
* * *
We are a nation whose image of military service, warfare and so on are shaped as much by motion pictures and television as they are by the media's reporting on war. For most people, mention the name General George S. Patton and this is what comes to mind:
In fact, George Patton represented the U.S. in the 1912 Olympics in the Modern Pentathlon. He finished fifth. He was twice decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross, the 2nd highest award this nation has for extraordinary heroism in combat with an enemy force.
The Air Force Cross is the equivalent of this award for Air Force and Space Force personnel. Its first recipient was Air Force Major Rudolf Anderson, the only combat fatality of the Cuban Missile Crisis. His U-2 reconnaissance plane was shot down over Cuba.
Not quite five years later, the movie The Dirty Dozen was released. Its stars included Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Ralph Meeker, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas and more who served in our nation's military. Marvin criticized the film in that he felt it did not portray what really took place during a war. He was much happier with the portrayal of war in 1980's The Big Red One.
Charles Durning was nominated for a Primetime Emmy award for his guest performance in a 2004 episode of NCIS. Hw portrayed a Marine who had been awarded the Medal of Honor on Iwo Jimo during World War II. What most (including me) did not know when watching that episode was that Durning was part of the force that landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day. He earned a Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts during his military service.
* * *
Some of our fallen never came home. September 2, 1958. An EC-130 flying a reconnaissance mission along the border between Turkey and Armenia entered Russian airspace and was shot down. The 11 intelligence gathering crewmembers aboard were never acknowledged by the Soviet Union and their bodies never returned. I am grateful to my fellow veterans. Truly they are the watchmen on the walls of world freedom.
posted by me at 9:14 PM
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