Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Richard Spencer served at Dover Air Force Base as a navigator in the C-133A, then the world’s largest transport aircraft and a plane with a dark reputation for crashes. Lt. Col. Spencer said, “I still have veterans approach me, wanting to touch me for good luck, even though it has been over 60 years since I had my first mission and over 50 years since the C-133 was retired.” He resides in Lewes.
Veterans Day is observed in the United States on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Formerly known as Armistice Day, it was given its new name in 1954 at the end of the Korean War to honor all veterans. Veterans Day is observed with memorial ceremonies, salutes at military cemeteries, small-town parades, homes flying a flag and the wearing of poppies.
This day was originally named Remembrance Day, along with a separate Remembrance Sunday by the United Kingdom. To be in London for their celebration during those two days, for me, lives in memory. An ocean of poppies abound, church bells ring, and the atmosphere is somber with thanks.
Veterans Day is a time of remembrance that the older generation, along with a new generation, recognizes with their families and friends. At the exact hour of 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, many throughout our nation will be saluting our nation’s flag, wearing remembrance poppies in honor of those who gave their last breath in securing the freedom that our living brethren so enjoy. It is truly a day of deep personal thought as to the realities that created our nation as a constitutional republic.
Veterans slowly fade away, as do all good citizen soldiers, with the knowledge that they helped secure a better and safer life for our families, for our nation and for our world. They were not heroes; they were just ordinary citizens from all walks of American life dedicated to preservation of their goodwill for their beloved country. Veterans and their families can stand proudly, knowing that they did their duty and honored their country, without rancor, during some of its most troubled and dangerous times.
For the older veterans presently living in Delaware, throughout their 20th-century military service and most of their military and civilian lives, they were engaged with the containment of communism. Communism seemed poised to spread indefinitely, and then, it collapsed like a house of cards. It had violated one of the basic tenets of civilization, “Thou shalt not kill.”
After the collapse of communism, many opined that the newly established world order would be forever peaceful. However, the opening of the 21st century has created a new generation of veterans fighting a new set of adversaries violating this same tenet of civilized people, “Thou shall not kill.”
American patriots and their families have been bearing the brunt of many conflicts since before the Revolutionary War, and all had a continuous outpouring of “brotherly love” for one another and their units. The reasons for our closeness as military veterans, in my opinion, are that we were personally a part of that important national organization dedicated to preserving freedom and protecting our families and our citizens: the U.S. military. We were proud to be so and to do so. And we remain so.
The many reunions of veterans throughout Delaware that take place every year is the result of an ethos first noted by the ancient Greeks. “Philia” never leaves the individual, and the individual never leaves the military. That ethos, “brotherly love,” remains to the last. It is the unselfish nature of service to the nation of each in the uniform of our country’s military forces that once again brings us together for the nationwide celebration of Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2022 — to embrace our oath of allegiance, to serve our nation’s citizens, to salute our flag and to protect our nation’s Constitution. “What more could we have done?”
