Veteran's Day 2020-Memories Must Be Fed...I remember the people.

In honor of Veteran’s Day, 2020, I reflect back 10 years ago when I gave the opening speech at the 2010 Veteran’s Day Luncheon as Rotary President. It is simply a part of the overall ceremony that honored the current generation of veterans such as Lt. Col Ken Michalak, as well as my father, Donald Morgan, and his brother, Robert Morgan.

…” On behalf of the Rotary Club of Fowlerville, we are honored to spend today’s Veteran lunch with you to recognize, honor, and thank veterans who chose to serve their country. Like the Rotary motto, you chose to serve a cause that is greater than one’s self; many of you even knowing you would be sent into harm's way. No matter if it was peace time, state side, or during a time of war, your service protected us from danger and provided other nations an opportunity for a better life.

Today we live in a time of war. We gather here mindful that the generation serving today, such as Lt. Col. Ken Michalak, Rear Detachment OIC, 46th MP Command, has earned a place alongside previous generations for the courage they have shown and the sacrifices that they have made. They have endured tour after tour in Iraq and Afghanistan and they guard the fence lines of places many of you are familiar with such as Korea, Vietnam, and Cuba.

I find it interesting to note that 3 months ago, “On the evening of August 18, 2010, the last American Combat troops (4th Stryker of the 2nd Infantry Division) departed Iraq via Kuwait, thus officially ending Operation Iraqi Freedom.” I don’t remember hearing about this in the news or in the newspaper. I found this information listed on the Arlington National Cemetery website.

Let us not forget the sacrifices of your families who endured many sleepless nights wondering about your well-being and if you would make it home safe. To all veterans and their families, our gratitude cannot match the magnitude of your service and your sacrifice. 

"Memories Must Be Fed" is the creed of the Michigan’s Own Military and Space Museum located in Frankenmuth, Michigan, https://miheroes.org/#/

“Without nourishment, they wither and fade into a vague, uncelebrated, unappreciated thing we call "The Past." Certain memories are particularly deserving of continued feeding and appreciation. Foremost are the memories of those men and women whom fate thrust into armed struggle on our behalf.

Michigan's Own is unique in the United States in that it is devoted to the wartime experiences of one state's people. However, it is not a museum of war, nor an archive dedicated to the strategies or the killing machinery of battle. It is instead, a shrine to ordinary lives caught up in - sometimes ended by - the extraordinary experience of war. It is also an eloquent statement about the passing of time, and the debt subsequent generations owe to those who preceded them to preserve our Freedoms. “

In the summer of 1918 President Woodrow Wilson, at the urging of Britain and France, sent an infantry regiment to north Russia to fight the Bolsheviks (the first Communists) in hopes of persuading Russia to rejoin the war against Germany. The 339th Infantry with the first battalion of the 310th Engineers and the 337th Ambulance and Hospital Companies were chosen from the Detroit and Michigan areas.

These men braved the cold arctic snows and fought long battles in temperatures of sixty-degrees below zero, under the midnight sun of arctic Russia. Those that survived called themselves “The Polar Bears.” They became one of the most highly decorated regiments in all of WWI. There stands a monument at the White Chapel Cemetery in Troy, Michigan honoring their service. As Mr. Duff stated, “More than the deed, I remember the people.” His words stand as a motto for Veterans Day.

On Veterans days, one might think of iconic places such as Pearl Harbor, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Baghdad, and even images of the World Trade Center. The memories each paint a different picture.

Last week, I conducted a meeting with local scouts teaching them about Veterans Day. We discussed that Veterans Day is recognized on November 11 of each year, at 11:00, which marks the end of World War I. We discussed the meaning of Memorial Day versus Veterans Day to remember those Veterans that have died, and to thank those Veterans still with us. We talked about imagining their mother or father being gone for a year or two or three; not being there to celebrate their birthday or Christmas or soccer game. They learned what POW and MIA stand for. I come from a family that experienced both the meaning of POW and MIA.

It was amusing hearing their guesses at what POW and MIA stood for. Answers like “People of the World” or “Marines in America” brought a smile to my face. I remembered what it was like being 7 and 8 years old playing cowboys and Indians. I was Davey Crockett and my friend, Dan Owen, was always Daniel Boone.   We would play soldier in the basement of my home in Flushing. 

There was this strangely shaped piece of wood that I would years later find out was a piece of bamboo. This piece of bamboo was shaped into a canteen. Even more years later, I would learn that this canteen originated across the world in the jungles of Vietnam and Cambodia at a place referred to as POW Camp #3. I learned that the letters BB Club meant Black Box Club and images flood my mind of a bamboo cell out in the rain similar to the movies. It was some 40 years later before my Dad’s service was recognized because it was a time and place that President Truman told the American people we did not have military personnel. 

I think about my grandmother and grandfather, the parents of two sons that had to endure the devastation of learning one son was MIA in WWII, and then 10 years later, learning their other son was a POW during the French Indo China wars which later become the Vietnam Conflict.

A few years ago, two natives in New Guinea were hunting in the mountains near Dobrodura, north of Port Mosby. They came across a plane wreckage of a WWII B24, brought back a dog tag, and passed it on to the local authorities. If they only knew their find would bring peace to 11 families some 65 years later.

This experience has given me a greater understanding and appreciation of places like the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Michigan as well as Arlington National Cemetery, especially Section 60, where the group burial of the crew of The Swan is located next to the soldiers of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. 

I now know that JPAC stands for Joint POW / MIA Accounting Command and is tasked with finding our missing Veterans and bringing them home.  The experience has stretch my understanding of geography as I can now identify the island of New Ireland, New Britain, New Guinea, and can point out the location of the large Japanese base in Rabaul where my Uncle Bob conducted his last act as a soldier until disappearing into the darkness of the mountains. I have come to learn about the ties Veterans and their families have to each other by viewing the kind words given on PatriotGuard.org when my Uncle was found and later buried. I now understand why the motorcycle group Rolling Thunder stands guard at military funerals and processions to watch over the burial of their brothers.

So in honor of our Veterans on Veterans Day, it is our duty to thank the many that have served to protect our country. It is also our duty to educate the future generations so that they can understand and appreciate that “Service above Self” in not only the motto of the Rotary Club, but was a calling for all of our Veterans. More than the deed, let us all remember the people.

To all Veterans and families of Veterans, you are not forgotten.

Thank you for your service and God bless.”