VE Day Ceremony at National World War II Memorial

Sixty-seven years ago in 1945, Victory in Europe Day was declared, as Great Britain and the United States celebrated the end to World War II. German troops surrendered in Germany and throughout Europe and more than 13,000 British POWs were released to return home. Families, service members, and governments celebrated as the conflict that dictated their lives for the past six years was now officially over.

AMVETS was present at this year’s VE Day Ceremony at the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Several World War II veterans and Holocaust survivors were present as speakers discussed the importance of the memorial and the legacy that these service members left behind for future generations. “This is a sacred place where we come to remember and reflect and commemorate the defining moments of World War II,” said retired Army Lt. Gen. Claude “Mick” Kicklighter, Chairman of the Friends of the National World War II Memorial. “This memorial says in a very special way that the people of America will never forget our veterans, will never forget their families, and will never forget those who gave all their tomorrows.”

 

Also present during the ceremony was retired Army Gen. John Abrams, the keynote speaker at the event. He noted the many sacrifices made by the Greatest Generation in World War II and also discussed how America should support veterans through programs such as veteran employment, education, healthcare, and community reintegration. “Congratulations on your victory,” noted Abrams. “You have fought the hard fight and have succeeded in making this world a better place.” The ceremony was ended as five wreaths were presented from: the United States of America, Department of Defense, National Park Service, Friends of the National World War II Museum, and the Holocaust Museum. 

 

An important day in United States history and for all World War II veterans, this ceremony honored the courage, suffering, and endurance that millions exhibited during the six years of World War II. From Holocaust survivors to service members on the battlefield to dedicated families on the home front, AMVETS celebrates VE Day and remembers how veterans achieved victory on behalf of this great nation and how many continue to follow in the tradition and service of the Greatest Generation. 

(Photos: Top: Wreaths to be presented during the VE Day Ceremony at the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Middle: Wreath presenters and members of the Official Party stand during a rendition of TAPS. Bottom: Retired Army Gen. John Abrams and a representative for World War II veterans present and lay a wreath. Photos by Brittany Barry.)

First Veteran Jail Dormitory

On Saturday, Fox News reported that Muscogee County Sheriff John Darr has opened the first county jail dormitory exclusively catering to veterans. Giving these inmates access to a variety of programs focused on addiction and depression, Darr aims to give these veterans a second chance. Also, veterans receive a mentor who will continue to keep in contact with them after they are released from jail. This will hopefully solve the problem of recidivism among veterans and allow these individuals to receive the help they deserve.

Many veterans depend on alcohol and other substances to cope with building mental and financial problems after leaving the military. These decisions often lead to veterans breaking the law and landing in a jail cell. In fact, approximately one-tenth of the incarcerated population is male veterans. Darr and other jail employees see many veterans come and go, since the jail is located just miles away from Fort Benning, one of the largest military installations in the United States. Running solely on volunteers, this program seeks to use community involvement to provide services and support to the veteran inmates.

Certainly a step in the right direction, veterans easily fall through the cracks in our legal system as court systems and prisons do not recognize that many suffer from addictions, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other mental illnesses relating to combat experiences. Veteran treatment courts have began to spring up across the country, providing resources and health services to veterans. Seventy five percent of veteran treatment court graduates have never been arrested again, proving that the model and resources provided works. As the veteran suicide rate and homeless statistic continues to rise, exclusive jail dormitories for veterans build upon the mission of veteran treatment courts. Giving veterans hope, hopefully this trend will spread to other prison and jail systems across the country. 

 

This Week at American Veteran

This week at American Veteran, we will cover the V-E Day ceremony at the National World War II Memorial on Tuesday, May 8, in Washington, D.C.

On Capitol Hill, Congress is back in session after a brief recess. This week, National Legislative Director Diane Zumatto will meet with the Senior Legislative Assistant for the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee regarding veteran status for National Guard and Reserve service members. Currently, these military personnel are not legally recognized as veterans and AMVETS is working with Congress to change this.

On Wednesday, AMVETS will be meeting with the Senior Policy Advisor and Director of Appropriations for Senator Reid (D-Nev.) to discuss Affirmative Action for veterans. Also, AMVETS will join the Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee at a roundtable discussion on veteran employment and career development.

Finally, the month of May is Military Appreciation Month and this Friday is Military Spouse Appreciation Day. On Thursday, AMVETS will attend the 15^th annual Women in the Military wreath laying ceremony at Arlington, Va. Remembering the women who have served our country, this ceremony focuses on the dedication of all women service members. We will look to bring you more highlights of AMVETS’ military appreciation activities from around the country, as they come in.

Thank you to everyone who submitted content for the spring edition. If you have something you would like us to include in the summer issue of American Veteran magazine, it’s never too early to start sending it in and as always, we’re eager to hear what you think. Please feel free to share your veterans’ news and comments with American Veteran.

2012 Memorial Day Message

On this Memo­r­ial Day—one of our nation’s most solemn and revered holidays—we all pause to reflect upon the prin­ci­ples that have made our nation great. We pause to remem­ber the true cost of free­dom and honor those who made the ulti­mate sac­ri­fice to pro­tect it. The brave men and women we honor today self­lessly gave of them­selves to defend a way of life that we all cher­ish:  The rights of all peo­ple to deter­mine their own futures, free of oppres­sion and fear.

For the last decade, Amer­i­cans have lived in an atmos­phere of war as our broth­ers, sis­ters, sons, daugh­ters, and friends vol­un­tar­ily sac­ri­ficed the com­forts of Amer­ica to fight for our val­ues and ideals in the Mid­dle East. Last year, Osama Bin Laden was found and killed by a group of U.S. Navy SEALs, a major achieve­ment in the Global War on Ter­ror­ism. Con­tin­u­ing to make progress daily, the men and women of the U.S. mil­i­tary endure the dan­gers of bat­tle to fight to pre­serve our way of life.
This is why I ask that we all pay our respects to the more than 6,000 brave Amer­i­can mil­i­tary men and women who have made the ulti­mate sac­ri­fice in the ongo­ing Global War on Terrorism.
By lay­ing down their lives in defense of lib­erty, the world is a safer place. We must remain vig­i­lant against those who wish us harm and join together, as we have done so many times before, to truly build a bet­ter future for our posterity.

Memo­r­ial Day is one of our nation’s old­est and most sig­nif­i­cant hol­i­days, born solely of our shared Amer­i­can her­itage. Together, we recall the glory and sac­ri­fice of all who have set their per­sonal aspi­ra­tions aside for the preser­va­tion of our soci­ety. Whether it is the dough­boys of World War I, our Great­est Gen­er­a­tion in World War II, our Cold War­riors who served in Korea and Viet­nam, the lib­er­a­tors of Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan, or count­less oth­ers who served and sac­ri­ficed in smaller Amer­i­can actions around the world, we owe a tremen­dous debt of grat­i­tude to the men and women who took up arms against the ene­mies of the United States, lay­ing down their lives to ensure a brighter future for the loved ones they left behind.

Born out of the Civil War and cel­e­brated, this, the third Mon­day in May, Memo­r­ial Day came about as towns­peo­ple across the nation dec­o­rated gravesites of the fallen with the Amer­i­can flag.
Today, many of us may gather with fam­ily and friends to usher in the sum­mer sea­son, but it is impor­tant that we never for­get why we gather and remem­ber the brave men and women who gave so much and the fam­i­lies and loved ones left behind.

These brave indi­vid­u­als answered the call to serve in our nation’s hour of need, and so keep­ing with the tra­di­tion of Memo­r­ial Day, we gather to place flags on the graves of the fallen and to pay silent and pub­lic trib­ute to those who stepped well beyond the lines of fear, doubt, and self-preservation to safe­guard the val­ues of the United States of America.

Around the coun­try, memo­ri­als bear the names of those who have given of them­selves to secure our free­dom. We must remem­ber, espe­cially today, that behind each of these names is an Amer­i­can hero who gave his or her life so that we may live in peace; a mother or father who mourned the loss of their child; a spouse; a child, left behind to carry on with­out them.

AMVETS has long made it a top pri­or­ity to honor our fallen heroes, whether it is through the estab­lish­ment and preser­va­tion of the USS Ari­zona Memo­r­ial in Hawaii, or the AMVETS Car­il­lons, which ring out at vet­er­ans’ ceme­ter­ies across our coun­try and around the world as a con­stant reminder of those who have given all.

As Amer­i­cans, may we never for­get those who fought for our free­dom, and may we cel­e­brate the lives of those who have truly made Amer­ica the land of the free and the home of the brave.
While major mile­stones, includ­ing the demise of Osma Bin Laden, have brought us closer to the end of this war, our coun­try still faces a dif­fi­cult road ahead. But only we, as Amer­i­cans, can ensure that we live up to the sac­ri­fices our fallen heroes have made for the ideals we so cherish.

Today, of all days, we must reflect on what it truly means to live in free­dom. We must solid­ify and reaf­firm our com­mit­ment to our ser­vice mem­bers and their mis­sion. We owe all of our vet­er­ans, past and present, a debt of grat­i­tude for their sac­ri­fices in the defense of lib­erty and it is our solemn duty to keep the mem­ory alive of those who made the ulti­mate sacrifice.
May God bless our vet­er­ans and may God bless America.

(Photo: Official AMVETS photo of National Commander Gary L. Fry)