American Legion Family members lay wreaths, carry on the stories of loved ones and pay tribute to all veterans during abbreviated Veterans Day ceremony in D.C.
American Legion National Vice Commander Stephen Weismann visited the Vietnam Wall the day before Veterans Day for a special purpose.
Weismann tracked down the name of Donnie Horton, one of the more than 58,00 men and women memorialized on the Wall. Horton is the namesake of Weismann’s post, the Sgt. Donnie E. Horton American Legion Post 254 in Collinwood, Tenn.
“It was nice to be able to honor him,” Weismann said. “I found his name on the Wall and said a little prayer. I'm taking an etching back to the people in the post, and I took some pictures of it so they could have something to honor him. They don't get to travel up here. I'm fortunate enough to be here, so it's very nice to be able to do this.”
Weismann, an Air Force veteran, led the American Legion Family delegation that placed wreaths at the Wall and later at the Vietnam Women’s Memorial on Veterans Day. Due to the government shutdown, the annual ceremony was scaled back but the heartfelt tributes were not compromised.
Preserving and sharing the stories of Horton and others was a theme of the day.
“It’s important that we don't forget, just like I'm still teaching civics to the children in my local schools,” he explained. “I just had a veterans appreciation class before I came on this trip. I'm trying to make sure that the youth doesn't forget, and even society as a whole. I want people to remember when they wake up every morning what was spilled for them and what toil was given for their freedom.”
Sons of The American Legion National Vice Commander Chris Casey called it an “overwhelming honor” to attend the ceremonies as the SAL representative.
A member of Benson Squadron 112 in Omaha, Neb., his eligibility for membership is through his grandfather, David L. Harvey, an Air Force veteran who served during the Vietnam War from 1953 to 1969.
“There are a lot of feelings today,” he said. “I'm a grandson of a Vietnam veteran who passed away recently. To be at the Wall knowing I'm representing the Sons of The American Legion, but also my grandfather's service, is an overwhelming honor. I’m very thankful that my grandfather was one that was blessed to make it back home, but certainly I have a bit of sadness of the ones that didn't.”
Harvey passed away without knowing his grandson would represent the family at the Wall.
“He would've been overjoyed,” Casey said. “I would've loved being able to share pictures with him and that kind of thing. But I can share it with my kids. That's a big piece of this is — I get to show my kids what leadership looks like, carrying on my grandfather's legacy of service.”
Representing the American Legion Auxiliary was Dr. Coral Grout, American Legion Auxiliary vice president.
“Being at the Wall was an amazing experience,” said Grout, a member of Unit 193 in Winchendon, Mass. “The opportunity to see veterans from the Vietnam era who are still alive, who were able to participate or just listen in was amazing. The wife of a Vietnam veteran was absolutely amazing to me. I was shivering when I heard her sing. I thought that the laying of the wreaths by each of the organizations was a really nice tribute to the Vietnam veterans. Everybody had the reverence to appreciate why we were there today.”
Her membership is through her father, Charles E. Grout, who served in the Air Force in the Philippines and Australia during World War II. Her grandfather, Stanislas Laplante, served in the Army during World War I.
Grout found deep meaning in the Vietnam Women’s Memorial.
“It's important because women in most of our wars have been the forgotten few, and they've stood at the same controls on an airplane and done the same things,” she said. “They're not just nurses. Though nurses have been a valuable and beneficial component of all wars all the way back to Clara Barton, and so they were a part of the war. But the last several wars, they've really become more important and taken up leadership roles. That monument not only pays tribute to the women of the past, but the women of the present and the future.”
- Veterans Day