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A time to remember our heroes

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Janesville Veterans Day Ceremony

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JANESVILLE — Americans fixated on the economy and presidential election had a different reason to unite Tuesday.

Hundreds gathered for the local Veterans Day ceremony organized by the Janesville Patriotic Society.

The crowd—more than 320—was considerably bigger than last year though not as big as the gathering two months after the 9/11 attacks in 2001, said W. Pat Burns, a Vietnam veteran.

About 50 St. Mary's Catholic School fifth- through eighth-graders swelled the crowd outside the Traxler Park warming house, but Burns said the nationally economic turmoil, political change and renewed national pride played a role, too.

"Half the public is scared, half is proud," he said, proudly dressed in is camouflaged military fatigues.

Buneva Deuel, president of the Ladies Auxiliary to the VFW Kienow-Hilt Post 1621, was the featured speaker, giving her an opportunity "to perhaps, influence some of the listeners to help support out troops," she said.

Deuel is no stranger to veterans.

Her great-uncle died at 19 in the trenches of France during final days of World War I.

Her godfather survived the Bataan Death March and incarceration in a prison camp in Japan during World War II.

Her husband fought in Korea.

Her brother-in-law died at age 19 in Vietnam.

Her son was wounded in Iraq, and her 23-year-old grandson died trying to save his men from an ambush in Iraq.

"These heroes all answered the call to defend our way of life. I have no doubt that at times they were terrified; yet they took their stand and bravely faced the enemy, performing their duties as best they could," she said.

Deuel has been involved with veterans in one way or another since the mid 1950s,

"It comes from the heart," she said about her speech. "The veterans and the service they've given to this country are very dear to my heart. No matter our politics, I feel the troops need our full support and they should not be forgotten whey they come home."

A veteran, she said, is much more than the definition she found on the Internet.

"A veteran is a father or mother, grandfather or grandmother, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, cousin, son, daughter, grandson or granddaughter who has undergone the rigorous training required of our military personnel and has been prepared to risk his or her life in the service of our country," she said.

To Deuel, a veteran always will be a hero.

"Whether as a yeoman manning at a typewriter at headquarters, a corpsman tending to wounded comrades at a field aid station, a Seal landing stealthily on a dark beach, or a Seabee building an airstrip on a remote island, these veterans are all heroes who answered the call when our country was in need and who helped preserve those freedoms we take for granted today," she told her audience.

Deuel asked Americans to thank a veteran for his or her service.

"It is important to give thanks for times of peace and to honor our veterans for putting their civilian lives on hold for a time in order to ensure our rights and freedoms.

"Ever since the birth of the United States of America, freedom has never been free, and we must be ever mindful of the blood shed, the courage shown and the willingness to do what must be done to protect our freedom."