Present arms

Today isn’t just a day off

WHAT DOES it matter if the story isn’t 100 percent accurate? It may be even more American if it isn’t. Mark Twain would understand. What a story teller he was. Besides, snopes.com can be such a party pooper.

The tale—tall or not—goes like this: The president of the United States—at the time his name was Woodrow Wilson—invited a few thousand veterans of the First World Catastrophe to the White House for a meal. They might not have called them photo-ops at the time, but they still had them. And the president of the United States was also a former president of a university. He knew from politics.

At the time, folks were learning new ways to can food for long-term storage. If you thought the microwave made cooking easier a few years back, imagine the first time that Mom took meat out of a can. No slaughtering, no skinning, no mess. What a change that must’ve been. And in 1919, when the doughboys were visiting the White House on Armistice Day, one particular dish was all the rage. In one bite you could get meat, dairy, grain and your veggies. So the main course was . . . . Ravioli. Yes, the stuff of children’s Saturday lunches, Ravioli in a can, was what’s for dinner. Back then, it wasn’t just an easy meal that all the picky kids at the table would eat. It was special. And how American a meal at that. It was every bit as American as chop suey or tacos, sauerkraut or French wine.

So the president and his guests, with ravioli all around, celebrated the oneyear anniversary of Armistice Day in 1919. For that was the day—the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month—that the great powers decided to stop the slaughter a year earlier. Today we call it Veterans Day. Today we celebrate all those who served in the armed forces of the United States. Today shouldn’t be confused with Memorial Day, although sometimes it is. Memorial Day celebrates those who died serving this country. And a special day that is, and should always be. Today, however, everybody who wore the uniform should be given a snappy salute.

Somebody down the street might have brushed sand off his MRE in Iraq back in 2003. Somebody at your church might have brushed sand off his MRE at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in 1983.

There might be a member of the National Guard in your family who served in the 1980s, and never saw combat. Then again, you might have a Marine in your family who went to war three times.

You might work with a woman who flew helicopters over Afghanistan. Or you might work with a man who flew helicopters over Alabama. Today we recognize them all.

It’s too bad that the first time many folks will think about today’s holiday is when the mail doesn’t come. Or maybe when they see the Bank Closed sign. Today shouldn’t just be a day off for government workers.

Come to think, it may say a lot about the veterans of this country that today isn’t given the due of a New Year’s or a Valentine’s Day. We’re all just so . . . . safe and secure. The enemy may still be out there, and always looking for an easy target, but there’s no danger of his invading this country and taking over. Once upon a time, people in this country feared such a thing could happen. Not any longer. Thank you, veterans. Come May of next year, we’ll commemorate Memorial Day. But today we can say thank you in person, face-toface with the veterans we know.

We should do it every November 11th.

And not just November 11th.