Just My Opinion - By Mary Kilen
Honoring Those Who Served
Next Tuesday is Veterans Day. This is one of the holidays that we close at the Promoter. That comes because there is a long history of service in both mine and Dale’s families. Veterans Day is one that we hold near and dear in our hearts.
I hope that all of our readers will be able to attend Veterans Day services in their area. In Stanley, services will be held at the Veterans Park on Tuesday at 11 a.m. If you cannot attend services, I hope you will pause for just a few minutes, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, to honor those who have served their country.
As we approach Veterans Day, the stories of every soldier are those we need to remember. They gave up their normal lives and served their country when called. They put themselves in grave danger and left families at home who spent their time of service praying nightly that their loved ones would come home.
Every day there are new veterans in our country as we continue to fight wars in foreign lands in the defense of freedom. We owe each and every one of these veterans a debt of gratitude and it is the least that we can do to remember them on one day of the year set aside for them.
I know I have used this poem before, but I will use it again this week because it is as true now as any time I have used it. The author is anonymous.
It is the Veteran
It is the Veteran, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion.
It is the Veteran, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the Veteran, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the Veteran, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble.
It is the Veteran, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the Veteran, not the politician, who has given us the right to vote.
It is the Veteran, who salutes the Flag,
It is the Veteran, who serves under the Flag,
To be buried by the flag,
So the protester can burn the flag.
Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance, and Nov. 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938. Unlike Memorial Day, Veterans Day pays tribute to all American veterans, living or dead, but especially gives thanks to living veterans who served their country honorably during war or peacetime.
Veterans Day occurs on November 11 every year in the United States in honor of the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” of 1918 that signaled the end of World War I, known as Armistice Day.
In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower officially changed the name of the holiday from Armistice Day to Veterans Day.
In 1968, the Uniform Holidays Bill was passed by Congress, which moved the celebration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. The law went into effect in 1971, but in 1975 President Gerald Ford returned Veterans Day to November 11, due to the important historical significance of the date.
Early Deadline This Week
With Veterans Day falling on a Tuesday this year, we will be adjusting our printing schedule for all of the papers that publish at Greater Northwest Publishing in Minot.
With the Post Office closed on Veterans Day, in order to get our papers out in the mail on Wednesday, we will be printing on Monday. That means that we will have an absolute deadline of end of business on Friday, Nov. 7 for the November 12 issue. We will be in the office on Monday morning finishing up the paper, but it will be like a Tuesday instead. We will only have enough time for finishing touches to the pages. We will likely close the office early on Monday to be able to make the girls’ volleyball match.
It will feel strange for us in the office as well. Normally we are closed on Tuesday afternoons after we finish the paper because otherwise the conversations go a little like this: “I’m sorry. The paper is already finished for this week. We’ll be happy to get it in for you next week, though.” Now that conversation will be happening on Monday and that will be pretty awkward for those people who are used to our deadline being noon on Monday. Hopefully everybody gets the memo from my column last week and this week and can help us out with meeting the new deadline for the November 12 issue.