Go to the homepage for the Sylva Herald and Ruralite

Click to view:

Nov. 11 event will pay special tribute to Korean veterans

Korean War service medal now available

Sylva's Christmas parade to highlight veterans

Local veterans prepare for Nov. 11 events

Cherokee to honor veterans

By L.H. Harding - Commander

American Legion Post 143, Cherokee

American Legion Post 104 Members of Sylva's William E. Dillard American Legion Post 104, from left, Claude Thurston, Richard Reynolds, Ernest Bumgarner and Lyman Parker prepare to conduct military graveside rites for a deceased veteran. This is one of the many patriotic services the post performs in the community. For more information, call 586-2211. Courage and heroism are demonstrated in many different ways. Police officers, firefighters and emergency medical responders involved in the Sept. 11 tragedy in New York distinguished themselves by their courage and heroism. They showed each other and the country that when the chips are down, Americans stand with and for each other. Regardless of ethnicity or differences in lifestyle or faith, we love our country, and we are one people.

On Veterans Day, the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month each year, we gather to honor those who honored us. It is a day sacred to all veterans. None of us need to be reminded of the reasons we commemorate this day.

Sacrifice is meaningless without acknowledgment and remembrance. Our collective consciousness, our gratitude for our incredible blessings, compels us on certain occasions to recall the loss of those who bought our freedom with their lives.

Some, not many, I hope, take these blessings for granted. After the horror of Sept. 11 we began to notice that some who had never known adversity began to move, however slowly, toward genuine understanding. Many voiced an appreciation of the America veterans fought for and died for.
World War II Memorial A rededication of the World War II Memorial in Webster will be held at 2 p.m. Veterans Day, Sunday, Nov. 11, at the old Webster School. The original dedication of the granite memorial, situated in the center of the school's front lawn, took place March 14, 1951. Some 146 World War II veterans attended Webster School. The monument was erected to honor the casualties of the war. The Nov. 11 program will "pretty much follow the 1951 program," said Joe Rhinehart, event organizer. An American Legion color guard, part of the 1951 program, will participate, and the Ginn Brass Band will play "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "America." Guest speaker for the event will be Oliven Cowan, who was Webster's principal in 1951 during the fund-raising campaign to build the monument. A special presentation and a reception will follow. These veterans, a diverse group who didn't look alike, act alike or worship alike, had one thing in common - love of country. This common bond strengthened them and created a unity spirit that withstood monumental challenges.

These were strangers thrown together in crisis circumstances, in a time of national need. They joined together and served us all with distinction, our nations defenders. Some survived. Some gave their lives selflessly.

The history of our country is represented by some 226 years, 60 military campaigns, 1.4 million lives lost. An enormous sacrifice. Freedom is not free.

Pausing for a few moments of personal silence to pay tribute is an option for us all. Attending commemorative ceremonies is a personal yet public way of saying, "thank you, we remember." Whether done individually or collectively, it is the thought that counts.

America's war veterans are fast disappearing from our society. There are fewer left now to carry the torch of remembrance. Between 1,200 and 1,500 a day are leaving us.

Come out this Veterans Day and show them you care. By honoring those who honored us, we preserve their memory, their service and their sacrifice.

This year we are acutely aware of the citizen heroes who walk among us everyday. They are mostly unheralded and often unappreciated. Our police officers, our firefighters, our emergency medical teams are civilian and sometimes military veterans. They continue year after year protecting our families and saving lives. Tell them that they are appreciated, that we are in their debt, and it is a debt we can never repay.

In Cherokee this year at the Veterans Memorial Park on Sunday, Nov. 11, at 11 a.m. we will remember. Sen. Dan Robinson, represnting the state's 29th District, will receive the American Legion Distinguished American Award; as will Walter Middleton, a genuine American hero, whose exploits are documented in a book available at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

Legionnaire of the Year Award will be presented to Reuben Taylor and Isaac Welch Jr. Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award will be received by Cherokee Police Chief Jonah Wolfe. Special presentations will be made to police officers, to Chief Curtis Arneach and Cherokee firefighters, and to Director Gerry Kinsland and the Emergency Medical Team.

This year the American Legion Leadership Award will be presented to Sen. Dan Robinson, Col. Robert Blankenship and former Council Chairman Dan McCoy. The American Legion Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Ray Kinsland of the Cherokee Boys Club. The American Legion Service to Mankind Awards will be presented to U.S. Army Nurses Virginia Snead Dixon, Mary Lambert Luff and Gladys Craig Wright.

Lunch will be served at the conclusion of the ceremony.

Back to Archive: 11/08/01.