By Alli Schieber- Editor-in-Chief
I never met my great grandpa, Henry Spears, and I don’t know much about him.
However, I always remember being told about his time fighting for our country.
From the stories I was told I could tell that he cared for his family and would do what he could to make sure they were safe.
One story I remember is that when my grandma’s sister, Beth, was a baby and my great grandpa was heading over to Germany, to fight in a war, Beth had to sleep in a dresser drawer because they did not have room for a crib. I am sure many people have similar stories or have heard something similar if they have family that are veterans.
Which brings me to why I am writing this story. Nov. 11 is Veterans Day. If you are a student, you might not have known that, and I will venture to say you likely did not.
I have asked a total of 22 students on campus if they know when Veterans Day is and only three have answered yes.
This number surprised me because most schools do something for Veterans Day.
However, I know a lot of people remember going to programs to celebrate Veterans Day but do not really remember when that day is or why it is significant.
My hometown, however, has done a great job at honoring Veterans Day.
As third graders we had a Veteran come speak to us in our classroom and show us pictures from his time fighting in the war. He would come back and talk to us again as seniors, and even gave us copies of letters we wrote to him.
I asked a couple of students from my hometown when Veterans Day is, and they both knew and could remember this.
While to some Veterans Day may be a forgotten holiday. I still think it is important to celebrate it and remember the people who have and are fighting for our country.
As I said before, my great grandpa was a veteran. He was a gunner on a B-17 for the 8th Airforce in WWII and retired as a command sergeant major with the Oklahoma Army National Guard. He also served in Korea while he was in the military. One thing he did while command sergeant major was making sure he caught video of all his men’s faces.
I can’t help but think he would be disappointed in my generation for not knowing when Veterans Day was and not giving it the honor it deserves.
I think this is because both the Korean War and WWII play a role in why Veterans Day is celebrated today.
After World War 1, which was at the time called the Great War on the 11th day of the 11 months at the 11th hour an armistice or temporary pause of hostilities was agreed upon by the Allied nations and Germany.
In many countries after WWII, they began to celebrate Armistice Day.
However, after WWII and the Korean War the U.S. federally changed Armistice Day to Veterans Day to honor all Veterans according to the History Channel.
While many annual Veterans Day celebrations still take place and most U.S. schools celebrate in some way. There are only a few in Oklahoma and Alva does not have a local Veterans Day celebration.
