Legionnaires forge bonds of unity

Since the 11th day, of the 11th hour, of the 11th month of 1918, people across the country have taken moments away from their everyday lives to pause and reflect on the sacrifices and service of the men and women who proudly served in all branches of the U.S. military.

As the nation honored its veterans on Nov. 11, Legionnaires were among the ranks of distinguished guests at Veterans Day ceremonies held across the nation’s capital.

President Barack Obama led the day’s festivities as he laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknowns. American Legion National Vice Commander Douglas L. Boldt was in attendance to observe the ceremony and place a wreath at the tomb.

“We come together to express our profound gratitude for the sacrifices and contributions you and your family made on the battlefield, at home and at outposts around the world,” Obama said after he placed a wreath at the foot of the tomb.

During his remarks, the president urged Americans to band together as the nation prepares to experience a transition in power. “Veterans Day often follows a hard-fought political campaign – an exercise in the free speech and self-government that you fought for. It often lays bare disagreements across our nation. But the American instinct has never been to find isolation in opposite corners. It is to find strength in our common creed, to forge unity from our great diversity, to sustain that strength and unity even when it is hard," Obama said.

“As we search for ways to come together – to reconnect with one another and with the principles that are more enduring than transitory politics -- some of our best examples are the men and women we salute on Veterans Day."

Visiting the nation’s capital and witnessing the day’s events was a heartfelt moment for Boldt, who said what he experienced humbled him in a very unique way. Although Boldt uses his platform as a veteran and Legionnaire to spread patriotism, spending Veterans Day in Washington, D.C., was the icing on the cake.

A Vietnam veteran, Boldt was accompanied by Rhonda Powell, director of the Legion’s National Security Division, as a wreath was placed at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on behalf of the Legion.

“Today as I was walking through there, it was amazing to see the humility surrounding us,” Boldt said.

The vice commander recalled a moment that he shared with a fellow Vietnam veteran he met on Veterans Day who served on river patrol duty will forever be engrained in his memory. As he sat on the massive stage perched in front of the Vietnam Wall, Boldt thought about the troops he served with and how they inspired him even after his military service concluded.

“I looked out over the audience and saw guys out there with their unit patches, grey hair and pony-tails. I thought about the guys I encountered while passing out fresh supplies on my second tour of duty on a river supply ship in Vietnam," Boldt said. "They kept saying, ‘Don’t leave. We don’t want you to leave. That means I have to go back. That is how I always feel. Whether it is here or the traveling Vietnam Wall.”

“That is what Veterans Day asks all of us to think about," Obama said. "The person you pass as you walk down the street might not be wearing our nation's uniform today. But consider for a moment that a year or a decade or a generation ago, he or she might have been one of our fellow citizens who was willing to lay down their life for strangers like us. And we can show how much we love our country by loving our neighbors as ourselves."