What should you do on Veterans Day? It’s simple. Say “thank you.”
Say it to the men and women who have served your country in the past, who are serving in the present and who will serve in the future.
Vietnam War veteran Bob LaDuke said that saying thank you is the best way to honor veterans Wednesday, Nov. 11.
LaDuke, of Colonie, said that every year on Veterans Day, he thinks about the men and women who are currently serving the country and what they are going through. Then, he takes some time to reflect on what he has gone through after serving for three years in the Army.
Every year he remembers a promise he made to himself one day in Vietnam.
“When I was in Vietnam, I made myself an oath that if I got home, that I would be an advocate and do different things to help people,” he said.
LaDuke said he has so far fulfilled that oath by being part of the Colonie Veterans Project, a group of Colonie veterans that work to bring greater veterans services to the town, as well as being involved in many community outreach programs and working closely with individual area veterans to ensure a smooth transition from their time in service back to general society.
On Veterans Day, LaDuke said he would like to see everybody recognize the hard work of those who have served by learning more about the meaning of the holiday.
“Veterans Day, it’s a holiday that people forget,” he said. “We lost the meaning of it. Some people use it as a day to shop.”
LaDuke said he feels that many have forgotten how America was founded.
“I think what the country has lost sight of was how our country was made. Our country was made from a war,” he said.
Noonie Fortin, a veteran who served in the Army Reserve for 22 years, said it is amazing to see how the life of a veteran is so different today than when she was in the Reserve.
She said when Vietnam veterans returned from the war, they could not go out in public in their uniforms because those who served were disliked by the majority of the American public in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
“Even in the ’80s in Germany, we couldn’t go out in our uniforms because of all the terrorism,” she said.
LaDuke said this caused many veterans to deny being veterans, sheltering themselves and their memories. Many of them still deny being a veteran today, he said.
“Many veterans want to put it in the past,” he said. “And they want to bury it for it to be easier on themselves.”
Now, when a man or woman comes home after serving, there is a different kind of pride that goes along with being a veteran – a huge difference from the time of the Vietnam War, Fortin said.
Another difference is the public welcome today’s returning veterans receive.
“Today’s [veterans] are welcomed home by Vietnam veterans, where Vietnam veterans were spit upon when they came home,” Fortin said. “It’s really our generation instilling that pride.”
Fortin said she is proud to be the first woman in her family to join the military.
“Ever since I was little, that was what I wanted to do,” she said about why she decided to join.
Fortin said that now, it is much more common for women to be in the military and on the front line, but there still is a ways to go in terms of reporting the number of female casualties in the same way male casualties are reported.
She said that many female casualties are unheard of by the public as the military wants it to appear that the women are not in as much danger as the men, but many women die in wars or walk away badly injured after serving.
LaDuke said the Colonie Veterans Project is currently in the process of adding a page to its Web site specifically about women who have served or are serving, as well as female casualties.
Both LaDuke and Fortin ask that on Veterans Day, if you see a veteran, thank them for serving and take a few minutes out of your day to think about those who fight for your freedom.
