Today is Veterans Day, a day on which we should all pause to consider the sacrifices made by those in our armed services. Last year I posted an article detailing the history of Veterans Day and I encourage you to take a look at that article to find that information.

This year, I thought it appropriate to take a somewhat different approach in writing about this holiday. As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan rage on, we civilians rest peacefully each night knowing that we are safer because our military is engaged in containing the area of the world where Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations can plan their attacks against people who believe in democracy, equality, and personal freedoms. Our founder, Jim Etter, served in the Marines for 27 years. Many of our faculty and staff served as well. In additionally, approximately 80 percent of our student population is active duty or veterans and we are proud to serve so many of our nation’s heroes.

I recently read an article written by one of APUS’ alums, Brian Hawthorne, who is a veteran and currently a senior at George Washington University. The article details changes in the public’s attitude toward veterans as they returned home from various wars. Brian points out that after World War II, troops returned home to “yellow ribbons, a GI Bill of Rights and the open arms of their communities.” Perhaps due to the divisive nature of the Vietnam War, however, troops returned home from that war to a dramatically different reception. There were few to no yellow ribbons or parades and some returning troops met outright hostility.

Indeed, the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have created tension among the American public. In a room full of twenty people, one will likely encounter ten who support these efforts and ten who do not; without question, there will likely be twenty different opinions on the best way to move forward in those nations. Regardless of one’s political opinion regarding the current efforts in either nation, I hope that no one loses sight of the fact that those in our nation’s military and those who have served previously deserve our utmost respect and gratitude.

On this Veterans Day, I strongly encourage each of you to embrace our nation’s servicemembers and thank the veterans and those currently serving for their service to this great nation. They fight to preserve our safety and our freedoms. A thank you to these heroes is the least we can do.

Today is Earth Day and as the urgency of the climate change problem looms heavily over the entire world, it is a day that should not go without notice.  This year’s Earth Day represents the beginning of a two-year initiative called the Green Generation Campaign.  The campaign was established in the same spirit as the “Greatest Generation” that met the challenges facing the world in the years during and following the conclusion of World War II; individuals working together to create meaningful change in the fight to slow and halt climate change.  Through individual and collective efforts, supporters of the Green Generation Campaign will take measures to reduce their impact on the environment (for a list of ways you can make changes to reduce your own carbon footprint, see the Earth Day 2009 website).   APUS was an early participant in the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) and believes that its online form of instruction is ideally suited to assist in the reduction of its carbon footprint (see my blog article about APUS’ involvement in the ACUPCC).

The first Earth Day was celebrated on this day in 1970; since then, Earth Day has come to be celebrated around the world.  In the years following the celebration of the first Earth Day, the United States took an active role in the discussion on climate change.  In 1970, Congress established the Clean Air Act to set national air quality, auto emission and anti-pollution standards.  In 1980, Congress established the Superfund, designated with the task of cleaning up hazardous waste sites.  In 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the Pollution Prevention Act which emphasized the importance of preventing, not just correcting, environmental damage. 

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Every now and then, I run across a good book that has been out for a while and which escaped my attention.  Such was the case with David Maraniss‘ They Marched into Sunlight which was published in 2003.

Maraniss, an editor at the Washington Post, crafted an excellent non-fiction book which is actually two stories with the crescendo event of both occurring in the October 17-18, 1967 two-day period.  Storyline number one is about an ambush of two companies of the Black Lion battalion in Vietnam.  As the Vietnam War continued to escalate, General Westmoreland and the Pentagon were under pressure to bring back better news, and President Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) was under fire from conservatives and liberals as well as the radicals against war.  Storyline number two is about students at the University of Wisconsin who led a sit-in against recruiters from Dow Chemical, manufacturers of napalm, and a favorite target of anti-war elements across the nation.

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In response to my article on Veterans Day last week, I received a note from a retired general, Brig. Gen Joe Schafer.  Joe is a professor at American Military University and an alumnus as well and he shared his thoughts about Veterans Day.  I thought that his piece not only embraced many of my thoughts about those who serve our country, but also provided a great perspective on the attitude of the professional soldier toward the change in administrations and our Commanders in Chief.  Given the orderly transition that we are currently going through after the recent election, you have to respect the way our democracy works regardless of who you voted for in the election.  With Joe’s permission, I have provided the text of his note below.

11 Nov 2008
           
It is a private matter who you or I voted for to be the President of the United States one week ago.  It is a public responsibility, however, no matter how we voted, to now offer our support and best wishes for the new President’s success in keeping this nation strong, ensuring the liberties we have fought and died for, and making the country better every single generation for the generation that follows.
 
I take great pride in having served under 7 Presidents while in uniformed service.  (I missed Lyndon Johnson by 2 months, but served under Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, James Earl Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, William Clinton, and George W. Bush.)  Though those 7 men were the Commander in Chief, as a member of the United States Army and the United States Air Force, I worked not for them as men, but for the American people.  My duty, my allegiance, and my sworn oath were to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.  I will do so until I draw my final breath, in uniform or not.    

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By 1775, the tenuous relationship between the British and the American colonies was at a breaking point.  The colonists were enraged by what they saw as unfair treatment at the hands of the British government.  The British boasted the most superior naval force in the world, and the colonists faced the daunting challenge of asserting American independence without a centralized naval fighting force.  On October 13, 1775, the Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, voted to outfit two seafaring vessels.  The vessels were to be armed with ten carriage guns, swivel guns and a total crew of just fewer than two hundred men; their mission would be to intercept British naval ships carrying supplies and munitions to the British army in America.  These two ships would be the first of the United States Navy.

The debate over establishing the United States Navy was long and arduous.  Many felt that the endeavor was a fruitless waste of funds; they believed that the British Navy was far too superior for the United States to even compete.  Others, including John Adams of Massachusetts, were fervent supporters of the development of an American naval force.  It was not until the Congress received intelligence that two British ships were on their way from England to Quebec, unarmed and without a protection convoy that the pro-naval advocates began to gain support.  The vulnerability of the two British ships seemed too good an opportunity to allow pass.  Within only a few days of receiving the information, the Congress authorized the outfitting of the two American vessels.

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