Photo by Aila Boyd
Photo by Aila Boyd
Submitted Photo
By Aila Boyd
aboyd@mainstreetnewspapers.com
Several schools throughout Botetourt County held Veterans Day assemblies on Monday to celebrate and honor veterans of the United States Armed Forces.
The assembly at Lord Botetourt High School that took place Monday morning recognized area veterans.
Brigadier General Scott Van Cleef served as the guest speaker for the assembly. Van Cleef served in the Air Force from 1972 to 2002. Following his retirement, Van Cleef and his wife relocated to Fincastle.
During his time in the service, he flew F-4, F-5, and F-16 aircrafts. He later commanded an F-16 fighter squadron. A command pilot, Van Cleef has more than 3,300 flight hours. His last assignment was as the director of regional affairs in the Office of Deputy Undersecretary of the Air Force for International Affairs at the U.S. Air Force Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Van Cleef, who holds an undergraduate degree in business economics from Purdue University and a graduate degree in political science from Auburn University, started his remarks by discussing the history of Veterans Day. He noted that the day has its origins in Armistice Day, the day that marked the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany.
A year later, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11, 1919 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day. This year’s Veterans Day marks the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day. It wasn’t until 1938 that Congress designated November 11 as a federal holiday. In 1954, Congress changed it from Armistice Day to Veterans Day.
“Today we come together to honor and recognize American service members, past and present,” he said. “Veterans Day is a day in America when veterans from all branches are honored.”
He went on to define what a veteran actually is. “A veteran,” he said, “whether they’re active duty, guard, or reserve, honorably discharged or retired, is someone who at his or her life wrote a blank check made payable to the United States of America for an amount up to and including their life.” He said that although not every service man or woman has been asked to pay up in full, they all enter the service with the understanding that they might have to.
Throughout the years, he said, the treatment of veterans has varied greatly. When he graduated high school in 1968, the country was divided over the Vietnam War and racial inequality. “The Vietnam War was at its peak and the anti-war movement in this country was as well,” he explained. “There were race riots during the year. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Sen. Bobby Kennedy were both assassinated. It was a very tough year for the nation.”
As a result of all of the tension at that time, he said, veterans were not welcomed home with open arms. “Many were scorned and the country was ill-equipped to deal with the scars of war that they brought home with them, including what is now known as PTSD,” he said.
The veterans who returned home from the Korean War, he said, were greeted with a similar response.
“The attitude softened and improved considerably during my years in the Air Force in the 1970s and ’80s,” he said. “It changed considerably with the Gulf War in 1991 when we overwhelmingly and decisively kicked Iraq out of Kuwait. We welcomed those men and women who with a huge parade in Washington, D.C.”
He explained that continued support for veterans has persisted throughout the years since 9-11. “Today’s veterans thankfully have the strong support of the American people and it’s not unusual for someone to thank a veteran for their service,” he said. “Whenever someone thanks me for my service, I usually say that it was an honor to serve. It truly was.”
Both the band and chorus at the school provided music for the assembly.
Central Academy Middle School and Colonial and Troutville Elementary Schools hosted similar assemblies.
