Dan's Papers - November 16, 2007 - Honoring Our Troops On Veteran's Day

They marched through Italy, France and then Germany, they landed on Japanese Islands, they fought in Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Lebanon, Somalia and Panama. They liberated Kuwait, and so many are still in Iraq and Afghanistan.

So when Veteran's Day was observed in East Hampton on Sunday, November 11, there were veterans present who had a hand in so many of those wars and military actions to preserve the freedoms we in America enjoy. Commander Brian Carabine of VFW 550 of Wainscott addressed the assembled crowd that had followed the East Hampton veterans to the Town Green for a brief ceremony. He talked about service and how these men gave the government, "a blank check that included their lives." He reminded all that these veterans put their lives on the line.

Present was World War II veteran Walter Ershow of Springs. Walter flew on B-17s and served from 1942-1946 in the 15th Air Force, 2nd Bomb Group spending most of his time in southern Italy in missions over southern Germany, the Balkans and Poland. Now in his mid-eighties, Walter is a World War II veteran. Walter attended the dedication of the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. back in May of 2004. He fondly and proudly explained the emotions of veterans and family members that week in Washington.

Now, in order to make sure some of the brave men who, like Walter, fought in World War II get a chance to see the memorial, a group called Honor Flight Network has been organized throughout 10 regions in the United States to fly these veterans down to Washington at no cost. The Long Island area is included in these areas, so this last weekend Honor Flight Network added a few more to the 51 East End veterans it had flown down to visit the memorial under the direction of Chris Cosich, an Amagansett resident and founder of the Long Island Chapter of Honor Flight Network. In 2004, in Springfield, Ohio the son of a U.S. Air Force pilot came up with the idea to bring World War II veterans to Washington, bus them to the memorial, provide a meal and fly them home at no cost to the veterans, who are all in their 80s. Cosich is reported to have said how grateful and graceful these noble men are. His actions at times bring "tears to his eyes." The network has transported over 1,000 men to Washington for the pilgrimage to the memorial in what has been characterized as a race against time. The Long Island group flies out of MacArthur Airport (some actually served under MacArthur and probably saw him in action) to Baltimore and then they are bused to D.C.

On Sunday, at the Memorial Dedicated to the Veterans of the Town of East Hampton, the honor guard consisting of Don Schrage, Bob Rizzardi and Stephen Walsh, stood tall as Brian Carabine spoke of "service not on your terms." A service they gave as young men, which they did whether it was politically correct or not. The men of different ages all stood as one. They stood for those who didn't come back and they stood for all those who did come back and made this country flourish. They stood on town soil where the invading British Armies of the American Revolution were repelled after so many colonials lost their lives back in the 1770s. All these men to the man know their comrades and buddies in arms who died did not die in vain. They witnessed the sacrifice of those whose blank check of service included laying down their lives for liberty. The men and now women of the United States Armed Forces do what they are told to do. They work as a team to preserve a way of life in this country and throughout the world. Sometime they are used in support of unpopular policies, but they always represent us and our children to the best of their abilities. They stand watch on the wall of freedom around the clock. They are ready to put their lives on the line to protect ours. When their time is up they become veterans. And November 11, on Veterans Day, their efforts are remembered and celebrated. They are honored for service rendered. General Douglas MacArthur in his farewell speech following his resignation, told the United States Congress, "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away." And now a whole generation of brave men is slowly fading away. They are our dads, they are our uncles, maybe even our grandfathers. After this country was attacked, they answered the call of service. Some volunteered, others were drafted, then they fought and they won. Their victories preserved our way of life for another 100 years.