n his reading room at his home, Col. Ronnie Anderson Jr., has his basic training photo, his father’s basic training photo and his grandfather’s basic training photo.
Speaking after the Veterans Day ceremonies held Saturday at the Rock Island Arsenal National Cemetery, Anderson, Commander of the Joint Munitions Command at the Rock Island Arsenal, said, “There’s one thing you find in common with everybody in uniform.
“If you ask everybody, ‘Why did you join,’ “you’ll get a different answer from every person,” he said.
“But when you ask, ‘Why did you stay, why do you stay, why do you keep staying?’ a hundred percent of the answers is they believe in the people to their left and right, they believe in our mission, and they believe in our country. That becomes the calling.”
About 100 people, including the Patriot Guard Riders, numerous veterans young and old, and Moline American Legion Post 246, attended the ceremony.
“The connection with my family and their experiences is so, so similar to the people holding a flag or a rifle today,” Anderson said.
Matt Tomes, Director of the Rock Island National Cemetery, opened the ceremony by saying that, “From Bunker Hill to Baghdad, from King’s Mountain to Kandahar, we are the beneficiaries of their (veterans’) vigilance and determination to uphold the democratic beliefs on which our nation was founded.
“America has been blessed as no other country in the history of the world,” Tomes added. “The sacrifices of our armed forces have given us the security and freedom in which to grow and flourish as a nation in law, human rights, business and economics, science and technology, education and the arts.
“They have enabled the United States to stand as a beacon of hope for others across the world, drawing millions to our shores; a model of democracy for the world,” he said.
“We remember America’s heroes today and we all owe them a debt of gratitude for the burdens they have borne,” Tomes said.
U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, (R-Iowa) who retired as a Lieutenant Colonel after 24 years in the Army Reserves told the veterans that, “without you and those families that support them while they are in the military, we would not have the freedom that we cherish.”
Miller-Meeks said she comes from military family, with her father making a career out of the Air Force, five of her seven siblings served in the military and her husband retired from the military after 30 years.
“The reason we honor Veterans Day is there is no greater way to take up that torch of freedom and liberty and Constitution than by honoring those who served,” she said.
“It is our responsibility, and it is our duty because those liberties we know are fragile,” Miller-Meeks said. From the right to free speech, the right to assemble and the right to bear arms, she said, “we must make sure that that torch that holds our values is passed from one generation to another.”
U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen, (D-Illinois), said, “I’m a believer that Veterans Day is the most important of our national holidays because we wouldn’t have the ability to stand here if it weren’t for our veterans.”
Directing his remarks to the youth attending the ceremony, Sorensen told them to “ask the veterans in your family what it means to serve, because I want all of you to think about how you can serve in the future.
“We honor those who sacrificed so much for our great nation and helping to keep our communities and democracy safe from harm,” Sorensen said. “On this sacred ground we also recognize the men and women who gave everything in pursuit of protecting what we value here.”
Anderson opened his remarks by quoting President Ronald Reagan who said, “Veterans know better than anyone else the price of freedom, for they have suffered the scars of war. We can offer them no better tribute than to protect what they have won for us.”
“Those powerful words, remind us of the sacrifice our veterans have willingly made and the profound importance in safeguarding the freedoms for which they have fought,” Anderson said.
“On this Veterans Day, let us all recommit ourselves to the principles of service, gratitude and hope that perpetuate our national ideals,” he said. “Let us remember that our freedom has been protected by generations of veterans and we must continue to honor their sacrifice.
“In the spirit of our quoted words, let us protect what the veterans have won for us, ensuring that their sacrifices are never in vain,” Anderson said.
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