Veterans’ sacrifices remembered

In speech, Beebe stresses need to honor soldiers with actions

R.D. Kinsey (right) and John Sanders of American Legion Post 74 in North Little Rock bow their heads during the benediction Sunday at the Veterans Day ceremony at the state Capitol.
R.D. Kinsey (right) and John Sanders of American Legion Post 74 in North Little Rock bow their heads during the benediction Sunday at the Veterans Day ceremony at the state Capitol.

— On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the fighting stopped in World War I and the Western Front went quiet.

That moment, the end of more than four years of bloody conflict, a moment that writer and war veteran Kurt Vonnegut called the “voice of God,” was observed again Sunday morning in the Arkansas Capitol rotunda, 94 years after the Armistice began.

Speaking to 150 veterans, service members and their families, as well as other elected officials, Gov. Mike Beebe said that although the last surviving veteran of the Great War, an English woman who served in the Royal Air Force, died at the age of 110 earlier this year, the memory of those sacrifices and those still being made will live on.

In 1954, the U.S. Congress passed legislation to rename Armistice Day as Veterans Day.

“I’m not sure that the people who set aside November 11th way back that long time ago would fully appreciate all the November 11ths that followed,” Beebe said. “All of the men and women who wear the uniform that followed ... and all of the families ... who also gave service and sacrifice to the benefit of this great democracy.”

Beebe said the hardest part of his job is not managing the state’s agencies or working with its legislatures, it’s making a solemn phone call to the family of an Arkansas service member who died during deployment.

“As hard as it is, as inadequate as the words are, it’s important for the family members to know that [on behalf of all Arkansans], that we mourn their loss, that we honor their loved ones service and that we acknowledge that ultimate sacrifice.”

Beebe stressed the need to recognize and honor contributions made by the nation’s armed service members, both past and present, but noted that words are cheap.

Real actions are needed to honor real sacrifice, he said.

“It can be done in many, many different ways ... with your financial support of veterans’ organizations ... it can be done by trying to shorten ... the lengthy process of helping employ veterans,” Beebe said. “Whether it’s merely an act of going across the airport lobby to shake hands with a man or woman in uniform, whether it’s simply an act of saluting a retired vet... or whether it’s saying... ‘Thank you for your service,’ even these small acts of respect, honor and love pay tribute to the men and women that we honor on this specific day, but that we should honor on every day.”

U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, Rep. Tim Griffin, state Reps. Jane English and John Edwards, as well as County Judge Buddy Villines were among those attending Sunday’s memorial ceremony.

Also attending was recently elected U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton, who is a veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“I was touched and honored by [Beebe’s] kind words, it means a lot to me as a veteran,” Cotton said. “We can’t honor their service too much... it’s going to be one of my highest priorities in Congress to defend our veterans who are home now and stand up for our [soldiers] who are still down range in Afghanistan and all around the world.”

After speeches and a blessing, a bugle player from the 106th Army Band Brass Quintet played taps. When he finished, there was another moment of silence, but this time, the bugle’s final notes still hummed in the halls of the Capitol.

Arkansas, Pages 9 on 11/12/2012

Upcoming Events