THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 10, 1995 TAG: 9511080227
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Guest Column
SOURCE: BY JAMES CERZA
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
Each year, Americans pause on Veterans Day to remember and honor the millions of men and women who wore the uniforms of our great nation in defense of freedom and democracy.
It is a time set aside for our nation to recognize those who have served and sacrificed for their country - America's veterans.
Veterans Day is an especially important day for all veterans of this great nation. For many, Veterans Day is a very emotional time. We feel a deep sense of pride for having served our country, and we are filled with hope as we see more and more nations of the world beginning to embrace the Democratic freedom our nation's veterans have fought for and selflessly defended for more than 200 years.
We also are filled with uncertainty as we see terrorism, tyranny and ethnic hatred trying to destroy our freedom, but we are confident that America's veterans will meet these threats with equal fortitude.
We also are filled with sadness when we think of the countless young men and women who gave their lives to ensure our freedom, and we feel fortunate and blessed to be able to enjoy that freedom veterans have made possible.
Veterans Day is many things to many people. For some, it is a day of parades and festivity. For others, it is a day of memories and mourning. Still others see it as a day off - a federal holiday providing an opportunity to enjoy the day as we see fit.
As 1995 draws to a close, so does the 50th Anniversary marking the end of World War II and an era of veterans the like of which the world is not likely to see again.
These men and women were a breed of veterans the world will never forget. Yet every day that passes, ``Taps'' is sounded for a growing number of these proud veterans.
The veterans of World War II are the fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers, and great grandfathers and great grandmothers of the present. Unlike any generation before them, these veterans know the sacrifice of veterans as few ever know it.
They willingly paid the price for freedom with their lives, bodies and minds. And by their efforts, God willing, no generation after them will be called to pay so high a price again.
Yes, we are proud to be veterans, proud of our history, proud of the honorable men and women who never shirked their responsibility to their country, regardless of the cost in lives, limbs, sight and minds.
But we are saddened and angered by the proposals by our national leaders that would be disastrous for disabled veterans and their families. We are shamed when we see House and Senate members turning their backs on America's moral obligation to disabled veterans and their families.
When we see VA programs and services singled out for drastic spending cuts by the very leaders we have elected to represent us, we are disheartened and appalled.
We veterans are once again engaged in battle. But this time, it isn't a battle of bombs and bullets. It is a battle of balance sheets against needed benefits and services. It is politics against disabilities. And it simply isn't fair. The truth is, if some politicians have their way, some veterans wounded on Iwo Jima will lose benefits while some Japanese companies continue to enjoy tax breaks on business done in this country.
We're fighting for the fair treatment of disabled veterans and the well-being of our families, and we need allies just like you. Let your congressional leaders know that balancing the budget on the backs of disabled veterans and their families is simply wrong, and we will not stand for it.
As we each celebrate Veterans Day in our own way, let us remember with pride and respect the millions of veterans who made every day that we live in freedom possible.
And let us pause on Veterans Day to remember with honored gratitude the countless veterans who have paid for our freedom with their lives, their maimed bodies and their tortured minds since the birth of this nation.
And, yes, let us protect and defend them as they have protected and defended us. They deserve no less. May God bless America. MEMO: James Cerza is commander of Disabled American Veterans Chapter 22,
Portsmouth.
by CNB