Friday, November 11, 2011

Veterans Day 11.11.11

Today, Veterans Day November 11, 2011, is a day marked in history where we remember all of the veterans who served in the battles throughout time who had the courage to fight for our country.  This day is important to me because my grandfather served in the Korean War and my uncle, his brother served in the Vietnam War.  Although my grandfather doesn't like to speak about his time in the war, my uncle is more open about his experiences.  I even did a report on his time in the war my first semester here at Saint John's for a history project.

My uncle Victor Noce told me stories about his time spent in Vietnam and how he watched friends of his who died in his arms during battles.  While telling me these stories he became very emotional.  I can just imagine what horrible memories the interview I had with him brought back and all of the life changing events that he lived through and is still here today to talk about.  I remember he told me that the hardest thing for him was coming home from the war and being penalized for fighting by his fellow American citizens.  This is because at the time that the war was ending there was a peace movement here in the U.S. and most people were against war and fighting.  When he arrived back home he touched down in California and people were their protesting and spitting on the soldiers which is obviously a total sign of disrespect.  So today I like to reflect and be thankful that my grandfather and uncle were so brave and so lucky to still be here today to tell us these stories.