Large crowds gathered on the Bruce and Calhoun City squares Friday morning to honor veterans of all generations.
“From defeating communism, fascism, imperialism, to liberating the slaves in the civil war and keeping the peace in the cold war, to battling terrorism today, throughout history veterans have done remarkable things for this country,” said Col. Walter Easter Jr. on the Calhoun City Square. “Veterans have preserved the way of life that we have. Many young men and women today see somebody playing football or baseball and consider that their hero. My hero wears camouflage.”
Easter, a native of Aberdeen, 38-year veteran and past commander of the local National Guard company, expressed concerns about veterans’ conditions today.
“We live in a country that is free and the American Dream is to own your own home. We have 50,000 homeless veterans in this country,” Easter said. “That’s the approximate population of Tupelo. Think about that whole city not having a home to go to tonight.”
“We have approximately 20 veterans per day that are taking their own lives,” he said. “Why they want to do it I can’t answer that, but it is happening. We have 20% of our soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.”
“What really ticks me off is veterans are having to wait too long at V.A. facilities to get care they need. That care, while often is very good care, still shouldn’t have you waiting weeks or months at a time to see someone for a condition that needs to be treated now, not in this great nation.”
Easter concluded his remarks by thanking veterans for their great contributions to this nation and to the local community for the support they’ve shown to the men and women who’ve served.
“Veterans Day is a very symbolic day. A day we look back at history and take a moment to thank veterans for their service. But along with that thank you we should insist our elected officials at the local, state and federal level continue to put laws into place that are meaningful to both the veteran and veterans’ families,” he said. “This community, Calhoun City, it’s very evident is dedicated to remembering the legacy of all its veterans. They realize that what these men and women have done matters to Americans. It matters to the people overseas that are liberated from tyrany due to the sacrifices of our military members.”
“Never forget what you have in this country, the freedoms that we have,” Easter said. “And why do you have it? Because veterans matter.”
Jim Brown, a U.S. Air Force veteran and lifelong member of the VFW, saluted veterans impact on this country from its founding to present day during his speech on the Bruce Square.
Quoting Pres. John F. Kennedy, Brown said “Americans did not want to or expect to fight wars, but wars must be fought to keep peace.”
Brown said that “From George Washington to Pres. Obama, we’ve had mothers ask why did their sons and daughters have to die.” He noted that like Christ’s death on the “rugged cross,” it was to preserve our way of life for eternity.
Brown closed his remarks by quoting Pres. Ronald Reagan, “Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure.”
