by James Glaser
June 7, 2004

Sunday our VFW Post and the Blackduck Legion Post, had a World War II Veterans Recognition Program. We honored over 150 local men who fought in the "Big One." We had Honor Guard Units from the surrounding area and even a Indian Honor Unit from the Red Lake Nation. There was a Pipe and Drum Band from Canada and a community meal for everyone after the ceremony.

Of course there were politicians there and the main speaker, Representative Collin Peterson, like all politicians, had to pat himself on the back for his work in Washington, before he could honor the WW II Vets.

There was a lot of talk about the death of Ronald Reagan and the guys we were honoring were from his generation. Many guys said that Ronny failed to hear his nations call for the big war, while other Vets said he was too old. One 98 year old veteran settled the age thing, by saying, he was five years older than Reagan and they made him go in.

All in all though I would have to say these older vets respected Reagan's time as President and more than one guy pointed out the fact that President Reagan was not afraid to talk face to face with Soviet Prime Minister Gorbachev. Several wondered if President Bush had done the same with Saddam Hussein, would we have a war going now or not.

Our Honor Guard Unit had to be there at 1 PM and the program started at 4. So, it was almost like being back in the service. It was kind of nice though, because we had lots of time to talk to these older vets, some who had kept their time in the service almost a secret. There were guys there that had been on Omaha Beach on D-day and some that had been at Iwo Jima. There was also a nice display of things these guys took home from the war. One guy got a 81 mm Mortar home, another a bazooka. Japanese rifles, German pistols, Grenades, an Iron Cross, and many old uniforms.

It is a shame that it took our Nation this long to honor and thank these men and women for their service. When I got back to Northome I saw a guy whose name was called at the ceremony and I asked him why he didn't attend. He said that he got the invite, but figured that all this stuff is going on now, just to pump up the country and make everyone feel good about wars. He went on to say that tens of millions of people were killed in WW II and still we call that a victory. He said everybody lost that war, there were no winners.

This veteran is not the only one to feel this way. When we have to resort to war to solve our differences with another nation, we have already lost. All wars have their costs. In WW II we had over 400,000 men and women killed and over a million wounded and still we call it a victory. I think to be more accurate, we should say that we were had the "last man standing."