(Photo, left) The wreath commemorating the service of America's veterans is carried to the memorial in front of the Community Center. (Photo, right) More than 100 Ridgefielders attended today's event, a higher number than in recent years. It was particularly encouraging to see that familes with young children attended. In some recent Veterans Day observances, the attendees have been almost entirely older Ridgefielders.
The color guard fired a salute to veterans at the end of the festivities.
Ladies and Gentlemen - In 1918, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day in the eleventh month, the world rejoiced and celebrated. After four years of bitter war, an armistice was signed. The "war to end all wars" was over.
A 1926 Congressional resolution officially recognized the end of that first modern global conflict- World War I -- starting with these words: "whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals, and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed..."
In the intervening years, though, the United States has been involved in four other great military conflicts, which have added millions of veterans living and dead to the honor rolls of this nation.
There are over 19 million American veterans, and this day has been set aside to honor them. Dwight D. Eisenhower, in 1954, saw Veteran's Day as a day to "solemnly remember the sacrifices of all those who fought so valiantly, on the seas, in the air, and on foreign shores, to preserve our heritage of freedom, and [to] let us reconsecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace so that their efforts shall not have been in vain."
That enduring peace seems elusive these days, and the men and women of America's armed forces are working, as we speak, to safeguard fragile efforts of peace in many areas of the world.
So. From the soldiers who fought and died in a poppy field in Flanders; the unknown soldier in Arlington Cemetery; those whose names appear on the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, DC, to countless others; to the veterans here today; and to the brave men and women serving on the USS Cole, we hold this celebration to honor you for your patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good of all!
Thank you, veterans!
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