Altus Air Force Base News

 

Veterans Day remarks, Nov. 11, 2010

  • Published
  • By Col. Jon T. Thomas
  • 97th Air Mobility Wing
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Good morning ladies and gentlemen. It is a pleasure to be here with you, and I'd like to begin with a thank you to Mr. Pinkley, your Post Commander, as well as to all the members of the Butch O'Neal Post, for inviting me to speak on this, one of our most important national holidays. As a veteran myself, I know how important it is always to know that there is a place where you belong, where you will be supported and can continue to contribute to the greater good, and to do so in the company of friends. The VFW has been such a place since 1914. I am proud to be a member of the VFW myself.

As we celebrate this day, Veteran's Day, it is worth taking a moment to remember how it was established and when. In 1918, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the belligerent parties of World War I ceased hostilities after years of brutal armed conflict. A year later, on the first anniversary of the end of World War I, President Woodrow Wilson, proclaimed November 11 as a day to be "...filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory..."

Two decades later, Nov. 11 became a legal federal holiday -- Armistice Day -- commemorating the end of the "war to end all wars." This would not come to pass, however, and in the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War, Armistice Day was rightly re-designated "Veterans Day," the day which we celebrate here today.
Veterans, like you, are recognized as men and women who have or are serving in America's Armed Forces. Today, Veterans Day is a celebration to honor all of America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good. It is also a day for reflection--for remembering--who these veterans are and why their service is so important to our great nation.

Throughout my 21 years of service, I have often come across surveys conducted by numerous polling organizations asking one simple question: "In which institution within America do you have the most confidence?" The answers come back widely and varied, sadly with some branches of our government such as elected officials ranking near the bottom of the list, church institutions usually in the middle, and invariably, at the top of the list each time, is our United States military.

It is worth asking "Why" to this question...especially on a day such as this...Veteran's Day. I would submit to you that at the very core, the answer is simply trust...that the American people trust their military to defend them, to do so with honor, and to remain prepared for the future, whatever may come.

And I would also add that this "institution" of which we speak, the United States military, is not some monolithic organization, some nameless bureaucracy....it is the 2.9 million active duty, reserve, and national guard members who serve today...plus the 24 million Americans living today who have previously served...all of us together, collectively known as "Veterans."

So why are we trusted? We serve. From the soldiers serving under General George Washington who endured the hardships of Valley Forge in 1778, to the Marines who so valiantly stopped the last great German offensive at Belleau Wood in 1918, to the Sailors who destroyed the Japanese fleet at Leyte Gulf in 1944, to the Airmen who dominated the skies over Baghdad in not just one but two wars in 1991 and again in 2003, our military...we, the Veterans...can be trusted to get the job done in conflict with the enemy.

Yet "getting the job done" is more than just direct battle with the enemy. Take for example, the soldiers who for so many years stood watch over the Fulda gap in Germany during the Cold War, on guard should the Soviet Union ever actually try to seek an advantage through armed force. Or the B-52 crewmember, flying airborne alert during the height of the Cold War, in order to ensure that our nuclear deterrent was always safe and ready...or even today, the sailor on board a ballistic missile submarine, running silent and deep, in order to ensure the same for our great nation. Their service, and the trust we have in them, is the same.

The examples of service by our veterans are almost limitless...and to demonstrate, let me share two recent examples involving our very own Airmen here at the Mighty 97th Air Mobility Wing, just a few hundred meters away from here. On January 12, 2010, a massive magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean, severely damaging the infrastructure of Haiti and in particular, ravaging the capital of Port-au-Prince and killing thousands. Immediately, the United States military swung into action to provide relief assistance, knowing that in such an impoverished country, many more were sure to die if aid did not come quickly.

Just before midnight on Saturday, 16 January, I received a phone call from the general in charge of scheduling airlift into Haiti. He was desperate; within the first few days of the relief effort, the one airfield in Port-au-Prince had become clogged and relief supplies were not getting out to the areas that needed them most. Airdrop now appeared to be the best option, and with the already great commitment our Air Force had to Iraq and Afghanistan, the general simply did not have the airdrop crews to fly the missions...but Altus did, and he knew it.

The Mighty 97th swung into action. Within 36 hours, our first crews were enroute, and within 48 hours, six aircraft and ten aircrews, plus maintenance support, were on their way. Within a week, our crews had flown over 150 hours moving over 1.5 million pounds of equipment and relief supplies into Haiti, and returned nearly 1,500 evacuees to safe havens here in the United States. Service. Getting the job done. Trust.

Our crews returned home on January 22nd. And you all know what happened next! Yes, on January 28th, we had a little event here in Southwest Oklahoma that might accurately be called "the storm of the century." In the span of six days, we had gone from being the providers of aid to desperately needing it ourselves as our base, and community, was bereft of electrical power for eight days due to the massive ice storm. And yet our Airmen, and our community, rose to the challenge.

Line crews from the city and the base quickly set to repairing downed power lines. Mechanics from the base provided mobile heating units to assisted living facilities in Altus and helped to ensure the pumps at the city water plant remained functional...and volunteers from all across the city...Veterans such as you, Airmen from the base, and ordinary citizens with a big heart and a sense of service, ensured shelter and food were available to those in the area who otherwise had none. Eventually, the power came back on, we resumed our normal mission at the base, and in about half the time expected, we recovered all the training we had lost and were sending students back to their home units on time, ready to go into combat. Service. Getting the job done. Trust.

Yet there is another element. Trust also encompasses the fact that the military will take care of those sons and daughters who choose to serve and that no one will be left behind or forgotten. The phenomenal achievements of our Aeromedical evacuation system during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the exceptional medical treatment facilities that exist here within the United States, are testament to the commitment that we will care for our wounded and keep them alive.

Yet for those that we unfortunately have not been able to save, The Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers at Arlington Cemetery in Washington D.C., as well as American military memorials and gravesites across the globe speak again to this promise - that everyone who served will be honored. The Joint Prisoners of War and Missing in Action Accounting Command at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii is proof of the promise that no service member will be left behind, as teams continue to search for the remains of missing military members in Europe, Korea, Southeast Asia and beyond. These actions are a testament to the trust families have for the military to bring their loved ones home and to honor the work they have done.

Finally, I would submit that there is one additional element, beyond the trust in service and the commitment to honoring those who serve. It is an appreciation on the part of the American people of the sacrifices, big and small, that veterans have always made to serve their country.

When we think of sacrifices, many of us think about loss of life or severe injuries of some kind. Clearly, the giving of the last full measure of devotion stands as service of the highest order, a sacrifice which our veterans have willingly given across the past 234 years. Yet there are also the subtle, the mostly unseen sacrifices that our living veterans have made that are important as well. Sacrifices such as missing the birth of a daughter or son, the wedding of a brother or sister, the funeral of a mother or father. Not being able to see their child off on their first day of school or watching them perform in a school play. Not being able to trek home for holidays to see parents or visit with old friends.

It is these sacrifices, as well as the willingness to give life in the defense of our great nation, that bind veterans, past and present, together and make our military the most trusted institution in America. As you have done, and continue to do so today, we make these sacrifices freely, knowing that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves.

Yet let us not forget one thing. By extension, when the sacrifices, large and small, which we are freely willing to give, are required of us by our country, there are others who sacrifice as well. Family members....mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters...provide their support and love on a daily basis. But when it comes to sacrifice, these family members and loved ones are the "other side of the equation," so to speak, and we must acknowledge and honor their giving as well...for they too serve in their own special way.

In closing, let me sum up by thanking you, our Veterans, for those three things that make us what we are...trust, service, sacrifice. As we reflect today on those who have served our country, recall the trust placed in them - trusting that they will protect the American people, trusting that they will protect one another and trusting that they will trust in each other. You know very well that every veteran has contributed to our nation's great history, no matter what job they did, where they were stationed or when they served. And you know that every veteran, stemming from the earliest warriors of our nation, to those currently serving here and around the globe, make sacrifices big and small every day simply because they know they must.

I am very proud to serve as the commander of the Mighty 97th, a wing filled with so many great Americans, and I am even more proud to serve within a community, filled with Veterans from all of the Services, that is so supportive of our mission, but most importantly, understands and appreciates the service veterans have provided throughout the years.

To the men and women of the Butch O'Neal Post, thank you for the many accomplishments and sacrifices made to defend our nation, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today, and may God Bless the United States of America.