Veterans Day Speech

WW I  ended on November 11, 1918.

President Wilson Proclaimed that November 11, 1919 would be Armistice day. 

On may 13, 1938, Congress made 11 November a national holiday and later changed the title to Veterans day.

In 1968, Congress decided that four national holidays were to be held on Mondays:

 Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day.

These holidays were to allow the maximum days for celebration and recreation.

 In 1971, Veterans Day was determined to be on November 11, regardless of the day of the week

 This date will forever, exactly commemorate the end to WWI.

 It is a great honor to talk about Veterans Day. Some of us hold the parades and the holiday as one of our earliest memories.

Others remember the first Veterans Day that was ever celebrated.

We all now have a day that recognizes the service of all who have completed 180 days of continuous US military service with an honorable discharge, whether in peacetime or wartime.

Tonight, we will hear the brief stories of several of us who served in the military.

Sacramento is a special place for veterans because almost every modern era of our nation’s wars is remembered by someone.

Someone either was a child, was was on active duty or was there during each of those eras. 

 From World War I to Afghanistan and Iraq.

From evil segregation to full integration.

From women soldiers who were restricted in their duties to a time when no woman soldier is prevented from reaching her full potential.

From a time when veterans came home to fend for themselves, to a secretariat and the world's largest HMO.

From soldiers who were welcomed back to hard economic times,

To soldiers who were welcomed back to controversy

From drafting men into service to two full generations of volunteer soldiers.

And now America recognizes and thanks us for our service...

We built the beginnings of our nation,

We carried our nation up to now

And we will carry our nation into the future.

I will introduce some of us  veterans from the Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marines, Merchant Marines and the Navy.

 I hope that, by next year, all veterans and their spouses will have an opportunity to add their fuller stories to a book that can be displayed to recognize and remember all.

 I wanted to do the following jody call, but I thought that it would be too much for the grannies.

It is the most famous jody call of all of them. These are songs that were sung to keep the cadence, to develop camaraderie and to move the marching along. 

This one got my Officer Training School flight (21 OTs to flight) darned near put in jail when this dicey chick started it up and a psychotic Colonel heard it.

Psycho Dad just could not take it.

I had to talk my Flight Captain out of it, since the racist bastard Colonel only identifed the Black members of our flight, but couldn't seem to remember a White one.

We got our reputations restored post haste. Apparently there was a limit to what we had to put up with. Perhaps this was a test to see how malleable we were.

At any rate, here it is. 

Two old ladies lyin' in bed

One rolled over to the other and said

Sound off!

Sound off! 

The actual jody call goes like this :

 Two old ladies lyin' in bed

One rolled over to the other and said

I wanna be an Airborne Ranger

I wanna lead a life of Danger

Airborne

Ranger

1-2-3-4    1-2    3-4!

Sknorxx...