Remembering why we have Veterans Day

There’s no doubt in my mind, Thomas W. Brunker, Jr. would not have any
difficulty explaining the meaning of Veteran’s Day long before Wikipedia made it easy – if you were really interested.

My
father was called to be with the Lord on May 26, 1981. It was the day
after Memorial Day that year and Maria and I were preparing to travel
back to Detroit to have him see his first grandson who was born earlier
that month.

It seemed there were two topics at every discussion
we had. The first spun out of his 19 years of service in the U.S. Army
and how he entered at age 16 in 1939 for portions of WWII and Korea. The
second sounded like “Son, I want you to go to college so that you can
have a better life than mine.” So, I did. But, topic number one was
often part of any discussion and now, my classmates and neighborhood
friends were enlisting and being drafted for the Vietnam War.

Veterans Day is an official United States holiday that honors people who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, also known as veterans. It is a federal holiday that is observed on November 11. It coincides with other holidays such as Armistice Day and Remembrance Day, which are celebrated in other parts of the world and also mark the anniversary of the end of World War I (major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, when the Armistice with Germany went into effect). The United States also originally observed Armistice Day; it then evolved into the current Veterans Day holiday in 1954. Veterans Day is not to be confused with Memorial Day; Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans, while Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving.

At the Jackie Robinson Family YMCA, we have
been served by so many men and women who served our country in the Army, Air
Force, Coast Guard, Marines, and Navy. Take time today and every day to
elevate them in your thoughts and prayers in appreciation for their
service and honor the memories that survive with every breath they take.

Current Jackie Robinson Family YMCA Board Members:

• Dr. Eugene Bailey, Navy
• Hazel Davis, Naval Hospital
• Gilbert Harlan, Navy
• Tayari Howard, Coast Guard
• Randy Jones, Navy with Past Board Chair Theo Logan, Army
• Ray McKewon, Navy
• Douglas Shamburger, Navy with Tony Russell, Marines

Jackie Robinson Family YMCA Friends & Staff include but not limited to:

• Will Brockman, Navy
• Ambrose Broadus, Army
• Buffalo Soldiers, Army
• Jerry Coleman, Marines
• E.J. Hearn, Navy
• Jack Kirkman, Navy
• Tyra Hawthorne, Marines
• Theo Logan, Army
• John Nelson, Navy
• Joe Outlaw, Army
• James Price, Marines
• Jackie Robinson, Army
• Leon Williams, Army
• U.S. Navy SEALs