Boy Scout Troop 325
Scoutmaster Minute
Veterans Day
October 21, 2008
Andy Duprey, Scoutmaster
As we prepare for the 11th of November, here and in communities across the country, Americans will come together to recognize and honor those who have served in the United States Armed Forces.
We will honor and celebrate the achievements of the 24 million living Americans who have served their country in uniform... at home and abroad... in war and peace.
Veterans are ordinary people, my father and brothers, your uncle, and aunt, who were called upon to serve our nation in extraordinary ways. Some veterans enlisted for assistance with college. Some enlisted to learn job skills. Some were drafted. All served. They do not seek the praise their service demands... yet; they are among our finest citizens. They have preserved our country and strengthened her. Respect is all these men and women expect, but we owe them so much more.
Even as we honor their sacrifices, their successors are defending our freedoms both at home and abroad. Like the 48 million Americans who have served liberty's cause throughout our nation's history, todays service members serve tirelessly.
It has been said that how a nation remembers its defenders reflects its true character and conscience. Calvin Coolidge put it more directly when he said:
"The nation which forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten."
Clearly, we are a prosperous, free nation today because of those who defended and continue to defend our country and embody its purpose and vision. We and our children must never forget them and what their extraordinary service means.
As Veterans Day approaches, as we pause to thank our veterans for their service and let them know that their sacrifices will never be taken for granted, we renew the covenant between America and the men and women who protect and defend her. From Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, at the height of the Civil War, these words ring through:
"With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan - to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations."
As we approach Veterans Day, please keep this in mind.
Thank you and good night scouts.