Memories for Remembrance Day

I have always preferred Remembrance Day as a better name for the Nov. 11 holiday than Veterans Day, as the former requires me to pause, think and reflect on those who served and still serve.

Still celebrated in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, Remembrance Day is a solemn occasion, harking back to the end of World War I in 1918 - and it is the source of the tradition of observing a moment of silence on the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month, when the guns of that war fell silent.

I have observed my moment of silence, and now it's time to remember, starting with Frank Woodruff Buckles, who at the age of 108 is the oldest known living American veteran. Buckles, who lives in Gap View Farm, W.Va., enlisted in the Army at the age of 16 in 1917 and served in France as an ambulance driver.

After World War I, Buckles worked for civilian shipping companies, and when the Japanese invaded the Philippines, was captured and spent three years in a prison camp.

Today, Buckles serves as the honorary chairman of the World War I Memorial Foundation, which honors the 5 million Americans who served during that war, including 116,516 who died in action.

While Washington is replete with war memorials, there is not one that commemorates World War I, except for the District of Columbia's memorial to its 499 World War I veterans, which now sits neglected and in disrepair, along the Lincoln Reflecting Pool between the World War II and Korean War Memorials.

I think it's way past time to spruce up this neglected memorial.

The Corpsmen

As a Marine who served in Vietnam, I have the deepest respect for the Navy corpsmen who served with us, and I had a chance to rekindle that appreciation earlier this month when I met two corpsmen who recently served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Both these corpsmen - Master Chief Rafael Felipe and Hospital Corpsman Petty Officer 1st Class Richard Martinez - exemplify the skill and dedication to duty of those who wear the caduceus insignia.

Their careers and recent combat tours also show that corpsmen take on unique duties and missions. Felipe, a surgical technician born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New York City, just finished a seven-month tour with a forward surgical team in Afghanistan, supporting among other outfits, a provincial reconstruction team working with the people of Afghanistan.

While Felipe dealt with physical battlefield casualties, Martinez, a psychology technician from Fairfax, Va., dealt with the invisible wounds of war during his recent six-month tour in Iraq. While Felipe said he dealt with physical head wounds in Afghanistan, Martinez said he helped treat invisible head wounds by teaching relaxation techniques.

Both are proud of their service, particularly in a specialty focused on helping people.

The Indians

This month the online Library of Congress Veterans History Project features stories from American Indians ranging from a World War II Navajo Code talker to Dakota Sioux Vietnam Veteran.

Worth checking out on how the first Americans serve America.

In Flanders Fields

Nothing will ever written will evoke remembrance of battle and the fallen as well as this poem, written by Canadian Army surgeon, Lt. Col. John McRae:

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow,

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky,

The larks, still bravely singing, fly,

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead.

Short days ago,

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved and now we lie,

In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe

To you, from failing hands, we throw,

The torch, be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us, who die,

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow,

In Flanders Fields.