Veterans honored on SE
by Brian Shults, se news editor

    After 444 days of confinement by the Iranian government, six gaunt and disheveled Americans were coming home, after being captured from the U.S. Embassy in 1979.

    Stopping shortly in Frankfurt, Germany, they met with President Jimmy Carter in 1981 and received a long-awaited welcome home.

    Amos Gaines, SE media manager, reflected on his proudest moment during his 17-year career in the U.S. Air Force.

    “I was law enforcement and protection for President Carter and the hostages on Rain

mine Air Force Base while the hostages were debriefed,” he said.
    Gaines, who is an artist and computer animator, made training films for Air Force television simulating potential terrains and enemy encounters.

    The upcoming Veterans Day, Nov. 11, marks a half-century long tradition of honoring all veterans who served in any branch of the military.

    “Since Sept. 11 Veterans Day will have new meaning for Americans, versus before when sometimes it seemed like just another day to have a sale,” Gaines said.

    Dr. Judith Carrier, SE president, commented on the importance of a Veterans Day Celebration.

    “Many of the younger students on campus do not have a memory of the sacrifice that young people in the past made, which enabled us to enjoy freedom. Now we all realize the blessings of freedom because of those who dedicated their lives to the service of our nation.”

    A Veterans Day Celebration: Celebrating Veterans of Foreign Wars and Remembering Police and Firefighters Lost on September 11, 2001 will be Monday, Nov. 12, at 1 p.m. by the SE Campus flag poles. The celebration will feature a musical tribute by the 77th U.S. Army Band from Fort Sill, Okla., as well as former veterans and faculty speakers including Capt. Veronica Warrior, U.S. Air Force, 1st Class Airmen John Perkins, U.S. Air Force, Dr. Carrier, Dr. Leonardo de la Garza, TCC chancellor, and Sgt. Grady Patterson, chaplain and member of the SE Campus police department.

    Following the Veterans Day celebration will be a tree planting ceremony in honor of Lt. Eddie Thompson, former SE police officer, who died recently.

    The Veterans Day Celebration will continue throughout the week. Maj. E. S. McDonald, retired 92nd Black Infantry Division and modern day Buffalo Soldier, will speak Tuesday, Nov. 13, at 10 a.m. Followed by Sgt. Theodore C. Hofsiss, retired 3rd Battalion, U.S. Army, Korean War Veteran at 11:30 a.m., both in the Roberson Theatre.

    A surviving member of the Dunkirk Evacuation in May 1940, Peter and Nob Brett Tringham, British Army, will speak Wednesday, Nov. 14, at 9:30 a.m. in the Roberson Theatre.

    The week’s celebration will be capped off by a speech with Navajo Code Talkers, Thomas H. Begay, retired Marine Corps, and Nonabah Doris Begay, Thursday, Nov.15, at 1 p.m. in the Roberson Theatre.

    The Navajo language served as a secret and unbreakable code in WWII. It was so successful that the Japanese were never able to break it and aided the Marines in several key battles.

    Maj. Howard M. Conner, signal officer of the 5th U.S. Marine Division, credited the Navajo coded talkers with the success at Iwo Jima.

    “During the first 48 hours while we were landing and consolidating our shore positions, I had six Navajo radio networks operating around the clock.

    “In that period alone, they sent and received over 800 messages without an error. Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima,” he said.

    Texas, and SE Campus included, is a bastion of veterans with memorable stories.

    Ernest Gines, SE computer science instructor, is a Marine veteran of 30 years.

    “The sense of patriotism, camaraderie, teamwork and accomplishment are the most memorable feelings of my service. You realize the true meaning of the principles that this country was founded on: freedom of speech, worship and the ability to pursue your dreams,” he said.

    During recent months, the surge of national emotions has forced many to re-evaluate themselves and their place in the country, Gines said.

    Gines commented on the loss of naiveté by many Americans. “On c ration cans given to many soldiers it says, ‘freedom is a word that the protected never really know.”

    Veronica Warrior, SE coordinator of health services, served as Air Force captain.

    “During Desert Storm, I was serving as charge nurse of the Avaino Air Force Base in Italy.

    “Seeing all those wounded Americans coming in really brought it home to me. This year’s Veterans Day will be more touching than in times past,” she said.

    Serving the country in the military also increases the desire to understand history and the difference that countless people made before, Vaughn Oliver, computer science instructor and Air Force technician, said.

    “There was one day on a Saturday morning review during my service when they raised the flag and played the Star-Spangled Banner.

    Something about it has always stayed with me. My goal is to help you (the next generation) to be vigilant and not let freedom slip away,” he said.

    On Nov. 11, 1918, at 11 a.m., an armistice between the Allies and the Central Powers brought WWI to a close.

    Three years later, during the rebuilding of Europe, a nameless body of an American soldier was unearthed.

    The soldier’s body was subsequently returned to the United States and buried in Arlington National Cemetery on Nov.11, 1921.
Annual memorials on the 11th became a tradition called Armistice Day, which focused on the men who died in WWI.

    In 1954, Congress and Presi-dent Dwight Eisenhower passed a bill changing Armistice Day to Veterans Day and applying the commemoration to all those who served in the military.

    On the first Armistice Day in 1919, President Woodrow Wilson addressed the public.

    “To us in America the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations,” he said.

    For more information about the planned celebrations and tributes, contact SE student services at 817-515-3595.