Reagan Calls Military People ‘Heroes Among Us’ : Parades, Memorials Mark Veterans Day

America on Veterans Day saluted its service men and women as “the heroes among us” with parades and memorials. The sound of taps drifted across graveyards, and warriors who survived the guns of battle gathered to remember.

Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger, in a speech at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, urged Congress and the American public to honor the nation’s veterans by observing the lessons of the world wars.

“Today is a day for resolve to stay so well-prepared in peace that the folly of war will be forever behind us,” Weinberger said.

Veterans associations representing the 50 states stood in silence as the Navy Band played “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” for a rain-soaked Arlington crowd of about 2,000.

Reagan Message

“Our veterans . . . are the heroes among us,” President Reagan said in a holiday message. “On this Veterans Day, let us pay them tribute. And let us resolve to live up to their example.”

(In Los Angeles, about 500 people gathered at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills for the 27th annual West Coast Sacred Torch Ceremonies and heard keynote speaker Pat Russell, president of the Los Angeles City Council, urge that Americans remember the sacrifices of those “who fought for the freedom of our nation.”

(The consuls general of Britain, France, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Belgium and the Philippines presented lighted torches to representatives of American veterans organizations, and retired Air Force Col. John C. Morgan, a World War II Medal of Honor winner, placed a wreath on a symbolic grave.

(In other local ceremonies, the traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was on display in Westlake Village, and World War II-era planes flew over the West Los Angeles Veterans Cemetery. Also, the American GI Forum held observances at the Mexican-American War Memorial in East Los Angeles.)

Long-Awaited Gratitude

For some Vietnam veterans who returned home at a time when the nation’s appreciation of their service was mired in war protests, this Veterans Day brought long-awaited symbols of gratitude.

Ground was broken in Olympia, Wash., for a memorial that will list the names of 1,055 state citizens killed or missing as a result of the Vietnam War. It replaces a small marble monument dedicated in 1982 that was ridiculed by veterans groups.

Ground was also broken for the Maryland Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Baltimore, which cost $2.5 million, raised partly by Paul Kozloski and four other veterans who walked across the state this summer.

Vietnam veterans carried a bamboo “tiger cage” through downtown Tallahassee, Fla., to symbolize servicemen who remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. A sign on the float said: “Lest they be forgotten.”

At a presentation of the colors in Providence, R.I., a Vietnam veteran who did not give his name said: “We believed in this country. We fought for it. You never want to remember, but you never want to forget.”

Women Honored

About 100 women, mostly World War II veterans, were the special honorees of Atlanta’s annual Veterans Day parade. Some women felt the honor was overdue.

“I’m an ex-Marine and the daughter of a World War II woman veteran,” spectator Susan Hendrickson said. “I wish my mother could be here today. I guess it was a long time coming . . . but I feel terrific.”

The Veterans Day tradition--once known as Armistice Day--began Nov. 11, 1918, with the armistice ending World War I.

But the years meant nothing in Battle Creek, Mich., where an unknown black Civil War veteran, whose remains have lain in an untended grave for more than a century, was buried at Ft. Custer National Cemetery with full military honors.

A steady rain and temperature of 41 degrees forced veterans into cars for their parade through downtown Charleston, W.Va. Police cars led the procession.

Small N.Y. Turnout

A small Veterans Day parade went down 5th Avenue in New York in a cold, driving rain. Hundreds of veterans, including members of the American Legion and gay veterans, marched with the wife of the late Gen. Douglas MacArthur.