Veteran’s Day Is Observed
The pungent aroma of Brunswick stew and fresh barbecue pork was wafting through the halls of the local American Legion last Friday as veterans, their spouses, and guests gathered for their annual Veteran’s Day dinner. The stew was prepared by Post Commander Sam Goolsby, and the barbecue pork was prepared by Crawford Ezell, who said he cooked the 147 pound pig on an open pit over a green hickory wood fire.
The Reverend Dr. Grady Fuller returned thanks before the 58 attendees enjoyed the traditional southern dinner.
For more than 75 years the American Legion and its members have been serving their community, their state and their nation. Since its inception in March, 1919, the organization has worked to assure that American Veterans, their dependents, and their widows and orphans should be given fair treatment by our country, and to improve the conditions of all children in the country.
Although they perform many other community and national services, the original core issues of the organization were: To insure fair treatment of the wounded, and to look after the families of those who had given “The Last Full Measure.”
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The guest speaker for the evening was John M. Mauthe, Captain, U.S. Navy (Retired). Captain Mauthe, a native of Marietta, is currently a vice president at AnviCom Inc., in Vienna, Va. He graduated from Marist School in Atlanta in 1971 and holds a B.S. from the U.S. Naval Academy (receiving Senator Richard Russell’s last appointment before he died), a M.A. from Central Michigan Univ., and a M.A. from the Naval War College.
Captain Mauthe was a Naval Aviator for 15 years, and served in several major staff positions including Joint Chiefs of Staff and U.S. Delegation to the NATO.
His inspiring and informative message included the current status of our young military personnel serving today.
“They are really the best trained, most motivated and the most patriotic military ever. They are just better than we ever were, and we thought we were pretty good. And we were pretty good, but these kids are better. They’re fighting furiously right now in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“We don’t see that on the news, but they are doing it—they are doing it every day and they’re kicking the bad guys all over those territories.
And our nation is taking better care of our military today. They have better equipment, they’re better trained, and they know what they’re doing.
“You don’t hear much about that part of the war, but we’re winning the peace in Afghanistan and Iraq. Most of the people there see us as heroes, and we are. We’re building schools, power plants, and putting the countries back together.”
Captain Mauthe went on to talk about the most important part of what service men and women do today and why they do it.
“It’s because of family. Not only their immediate families, but also their parents, cousins, uncles and aunts. Those families are really the most important ingredient in their success in uniform. And it’s the families that support the service people while they’re out doing their jobs. Whether you support the war or not, our young men and women are over there doing their job, and they’re doing it extremely well.”
The Captain concluded his message with some statistics concerning our nation and the men and women who have served.
“We’ve had over 76 million serve in uniform since our nation was born. Some 1.2 million lost their life during wartime, and we have 24 million veterans who are still alive today.
“Because of recent conflicts we are now seeing a resurgence of participatory patriotism. These young men and women serving today will be much better equipped to serve our nation when they join the existing veterans. But today, we remember the sacrifices, and those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the past. Their sacrifices are what it means to be an American and a patriot.
“I feel that every day I spent in uniform was for the good of my nation and so that our children would have a better way of life.”