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Carr: Veterans’ sacrifices are for benefit of all
Rainy November weather did not discourage community members from gathering on the south side of the Putnam County Courthouse late Thursday morning to recognize and honor military veterans and their service.
Keeping the affair prompt, the combined Greencastle American Legion-VFW honor guard conducted its annual Veterans Day ceremony with remarks given by a speaker, a 21-gun salute, the playing of “Taps” and laying wreaths at the Buzz Bomb and Doughboy memorials.
Similar observances across the nation — whether short or more involved — commemorate the 11th hour of the 11th day of November 1918, when an armistice between Allied forces and Germany took effect and ended hostilities in World War I.
In brief remarks, Master Sgt. Shannon Carr, a 25-year Indiana Air National Guard veteran who has served with the 181st Intelligence Wing in Terre Haute, highlighted the sacrifices veterans can make and have made.
“Military service by nature is temporary,” Carr said. “The legacy of that service, however, benefits generations for all time. It is the legacy of those of us who have worn a uniform of the United States military.”
This legacy, she said, has spread across time and the world from the Revolutionary War through Operation Iraqi Freedom. Through each conflict and hardship, veterans have attributes which are constant among them all.
“There is found in all of us a certain type of toughness, commitment and perseverance,” Carr said. “Though we may give our fellow services a hard time, we would never leave a brother or sister.”
Carr provided that “a bad day at work” means enduring long separations from family and friends or missing the births of children. For some, it has meant watching their best friend die or losing their eyesight, hearing or limbs. It means being engrossed in the collateral suffering which comes with war.
“We have all pledged loyalty to the U.S. Constitution; we have all expressed a willingness to die for our country if it is called for,” she said. “We are often willing to let that check we signed when we enlisted be cashed in, the one that we wrote that says ‘Payable upon death.’”
Carr noted that less than 10 percent of Americans are veterans, and that only one-twentieth of the national population are active-duty personnel. They did not and have not served for fame or recognition, she provided, but for the defense of American freedoms.
“I am sure that you have heard the saying that freedom isn’t free,” Carr said. “There is no price tag that can be placed on the freedoms that we enjoy today.”
She charged that in honoring veterans and their service, ordinary Americans can preserve those freedoms such as the right to vote by exercising them. They can also ensure that future generations know how to earn respect and serve in different capacities.
“It is earned by our words, actions and deeds, to teach our children what it means to be an American and volunteer in our communities,” Carr concluded. “And we can continue to honor those who answered the call.”