Veterans Day Commemoration (read by Joe Sturdevant)

The story goes that a soldier was watching a military parade with his grandson. The boy looked up at his grandfather and asked, "Grandpa, was you a hero??" The old Vet thought a while and then answered quietly: "No I don't think I was a hero...but I served with a lot of them."

The holiday we commemorate today used to be called Armistice Day, after the document signed on a small train car in a French forest on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in the year 1918, which brought to an end the First World War. Well over 4 million Americans served in that conflict, and all of them are now gone, except for one. He's Frank Buckles, of Charles Town, West Virginia, who 92 years ago today was on active duty in the United States Army. Corporal Buckles is a living connection to a war fought many years ago. But today there are more than 23 million veterans.

You might ask who they are, and what, if anything, makes them different from other Americans. (Statistics as of 2008)

The number of military veterans in the United States was 23.2 million.

There were 1.8 million female veterans.

The number of black veterans was 2.3 million. Additionally, 1.1 million veterans were Hispanic; 276,000 were Asian; 160,000 were American Indian or Alaska Native; 27,000 were Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; and 18.3 million were non-Hispanic white.

There were 9.2 million veterans 65 and older. At the other end of the age spectrum, 1.9 million were younger than 35.

There are five states with 1 million or more veterans. These states are California (2.1 million), Florida (1.7 million), Texas (1.7 million), New York (1 million) and Pennsylvania (1 million).

26 percent of veterans 25 and older have at least a bachelor's degree. 91 percent of veterans 25 and older have a high school diploma or higher. There are 10.4 million veterans ages 18 to 64 in the labor force.

As these numbers demonstrate, our veterans represent the entire spectrum of our American culture.

Vice President Cheney’s address last year at the Tomb of the Unknown: “Military service demands a special kind of sacrifice. The places where you live and serve, the risk you face, the people you deal with every day -- all of these are usually decided by someone else. For the time you spend in uniform, the interests of the nation must always come first. And those duties are shared by family members who make many sacrifices of their own, face separation during deployments and sometimes bear extreme and permanent loss.

Military service brings rewards as well. There is the pride of developing one's character and becoming a leader, serving a cause far greater than any self interest and knowing that our nation's cause is the hope of the world. Every man and woman who wears America's uniform is part of a long, unbroken line of achievement and honor. No single military power in history has done greater good, shown greater courage, liberated more people, or upheld higher standards of decency and valor than the Armed Forces of the United States of America.”

G. K. Chesterton said: “The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” American soldiers take some of America with them wherever they go.

General Colin Powell tells this story: He’d had a wealthy Japanese businessman come into his office and describe what it was like for him as a child in 1945 to await the arrival of the dreaded American beasts, and instead meet a smiling G.I. who gave him a Hershey bar.

In thanks, the businessman was donating a large sum of money to the USO. After thanking him, General Powell gave him as a souvenir a Hershey bar he had autographed. The businessman took it and began to cry.

Vice President Cheney concluded his comments last year with this tribute:

There is no mystery behind the endurance and the success of American liberty. It is because in every generation, from the Revolutionary period to this very hour, brave Americans have stepped forward and served honorably in the Armed Forces of the United States.

The following story was told at the White House. It happened in Italy, in a time not too long after the end of the Second World War. A father wanted to encourage his young son to do well in school. After the boy got good grades, his dad took him on a journey to Rome. Near the end of their vacation the father said, "Now we'll have the most important day. I'm going to take you to a sacred place." He brought the boy to the military cemetery at Anzio, the final resting place of nearly 8,000 American servicemen.

As they stood there among the rows of crosses, the father turned to his son and said, "Read those names and read those birth and death dates. These are young people, young soldiers who crossed the ocean and came here, and made the extreme last sacrifice to give you freedom and dignity. You owe them everything that is good in your life today. You have to swear here today that you will never, ever forget that you owe them everything you have, and you will always be grateful to their country and to them for what they gave you."

That little boy became the Prime Minister of Italy. All his life he kept his promise to his father, and when he visited the White House, he expressed his nation's continuing gratitude to the people of United States.

The America that liberated Europe six decades ago is still an active, hopeful presence in the affairs of mankind. In a world of so many perils, from hunger and disease to political oppression to the spread of deadly technology, America remains the best hope of those who suffer and live in fear. Our cause is liberty, justice, and peace, and millions breathe free today because of American soldiers who fought and sacrificed for that cause.

Many of those heroes rest in places like Anzio and Arlington and along Veterans Memorial in Northwest Houston. Yet many of them are still with us as friends, as neighbors and colleagues. They are America's veterans, and they are still the pride of our nation. They have fought our wars, defended our shores and kept us free. May God keep us ever grateful for their service.